By MATT GERHART
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
If Moana Pinner was wearing a Hilo Vikings uniform and slugging softballs in high school, parents Dean and Pascale Pinner were likely to be enthusiastically supporting her.
Not much changed during Moana Pinner’s freshman season at Kentucky State, though their support came in spirit.
“Even if they’re 4,325 miles away from the field, they’re still watching live on their phones and cheering me on,” Pinner said.
And there was a lot to cheer on.
Pinner hit .385 and slugged .541 with two home runs and 21 RBIs as the Division II Thorobreds won 16 of their final 20 games to grab the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s Western Division title. Kentucky State entered the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed and made it all the way to the title game, losing 4-3.
“I feel like I performed better than I thought I would going into my freshman year, but I definitely surprised myself,” Pinner said.
“Honestly, being so far from home was very hard on (some) days, but I was so happy to be welcomed into such a loving team this year, so on my hard days I always had my girls to rely on to put a smile on my face,” she said.
Here is a look at how other Big Islanders fared during the softball season:
• Jordyn Breitbarth (Hilo) capped her career at Division II Wayne State (Neb.) in fine fashion, finishing in a tie for ninth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with 10 home runs. Breitbarth batted .358 with 26 RBIs and eight steals.
• Freshman Teizha Kaluna (Konawaena) made a smooth and easy transition to the National Junior College Athletic Association, ranking sixth in Division III with a robust .545 average. She slugged .891 with four home runs for Northland in Thief River Falls, Minn.
• Sophomore Makena Wagner (Kamehameha) was third at NCAA Division III Smith College (Mass.) with a .324 average, finishing with a home run and six RBIs.
• At NCAA D-III Williamette (Ore.), freshman Breianna Mcleod (Kealakehe) batted .291 with a homer and nine RBIs.
• Sophomore Tavian Taketa (Kealakehe) hit .237 with a home run and 11 RBIs at Mount Hood (Ore.) CC, stealing 15 bases.
• At NCAA D-III Pacific (Ore.), sophomore Taylor Nishimura (Waiakea) was 3 for 16 with a double.
• Sophomore Shalyn Guthier (Hilo) got 10 at-bats for Pierce community college in Washington, doubling and scoring twice.
• Freshman Kiarra Lincoln (Kamehameha), was second-team all-Pacific West Conference for UH-Hilo, hitting .308 with 45 runs scored, fourth-best in the conference.
• Freshman Skylar Thomas (Waiakea) batted .258 with two home runs – including a grand slam – for UH-Hilo.
Editor’s note: Are we missing anybody? If you know of a Big Islander who played college softball in 2018 and is not listed, email sports@hawaiitribune-herald.com.