Gold Coast exited pool play as the No. 8 seed earlier in the week but that did not matter much on Wednesday as the Big Island squad upset No. 1 seeded Washington (Mills Creek Little League) in the quarterfinals of
Gold Coast exited pool play as the No. 8 seed earlier in the week but that did not matter much on Wednesday as the Big Island squad upset No. 1 seeded Washington (Mills Creek Little League) in the quarterfinals of the Little League Softball West Regional Tournament in San Bernardino, California.
Naomi Spencer powered Gold Coast past Washington with a 2-run home run in the second inning to put Hawaii up 3-1. Gold Coast took 5-0 lead into the sixth inning before Washington managed to push three late runners across the plate.
Johnna Lorenzo also showed some power and speed with a pair of doubles.
She knocked in one run. Kierra Molina demonstrated her speed on the base path. She reached base three times, stole three bases, and scored twice. Pilila‘i Kaai went 1-for-2 with a triple and a run scored.
Tehani Epenesa threw all six innings, allowing one earned off five hits, while striking out and walking one.
Gold Coast will play their semifinal game against No. 5 seed Arizona today. The championship game is set for Friday.
Seniors Softball
Gold Coast made a valiant run for the championship in the Senior Girls West Regionals in Missoula, Montana, but fell in the title game 13-7 on Tuesday to the host state represented by Garden City Softball Little League/Zoo-Town.
Hawaii was one of the top teams in the tourney, exiting pool play with a No. 3 seed. They defeated Southern California (Southwest PD Little League) 10-7 in the semifinals before falling to No. 1 seeded Montana.
The game was a slugfest early on with the teams tied at 4-4 by the second inning. Montana allowed Gold Coast to stay close with five errors in the game despite out-hitting the Big Island team 14-9. Montana dominated the later innings, putting the game away with a 6-run fifth inning.
Gold Coast got a lot of production from the top of its lineup. Shaylee Alani, batting leadoff, went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored. Breianna McLeod batted second, finishing the game with two hits, a run and an RBI. Five other batters had one hit each.
Jurnee Keawe started the game inside the circle for Gold Coast. She allowed 11 runs, 10 earned, in 4-1/3 innings of work. She walked three batters. Antoinette Fernandez threw the final 2-2/3 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, off two hits. She struck out two and walked one.
