UH-Hilo’s well-rested softball players have been relieved to keep their winter coats stowed away for two weeks now.
But not their umbrellas.
A would-be 14-game homestand was trimmed to 12 when the school announced Sunday’s doubleheader against Chaminade was rained out. Hoping to make a strong push out of the gate in the Pacific West Conference, the Vulcans instead face the prospect of a 23-day layoff between games.
UHH (5-3) was selected fourth in the PacWest preseason poll, and their road schedule is top-loaded this season. The Vuls have to travel to Southern California to face the three teams ahead of them, Concordia, Biola and Azusa Pacific, so home is not only where the heart is, it’s also where the best source of a potential hot stretch lies.
At practice on Thursday, coach Callen Perreira was optimistic about the homestand, eyeing a clean sweep and an undefeated 14-0 conference start … if the weather held.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “Hopefully, we can play those games at home here.”
Opportunity comes knocking again March 5 with a doubleheader against Notre Dame de Namur, by which time UHH likely should be over-primed to see a team on the field other than itself. Junior Mae Kaleikini was encouraged by UHH’s meddle during a season-opening stretch in Nevada and Utah as the temperatures dipped into the 20s and 30s.
“We have the heart and we have the motivation to play,” Kaleikini said. “We faced adversity very well, coming in from the hot weather and playing in the cold, it was really good.”
Now the Vulcans just need to get more games in. They’ve swatted nine home runs (two apiece from Kiarra Lincoln, Markie Okamoto and Rayla Jacobs-Kea) in eight games, with six rainouts.
“A lot of them (impressed me),” Kaleikini said. “Mentally, physically, we have a lot of new freshmen, new faces. When they’re put into tough situations, they showed up, which was great.”
The alum of Moanalua High on Oahu said she didn’t expect to be named the PacWest’s preseason player of the year, but she’s not running away from the “honor” either. She hit .361 with 13 doubles, six home runs and 39 RBIs in 2018 as the Vuls went 31-15 behind second-team All-America Bailey Gaspar.
Kaleikini, a second baseman, is the big fish this season – but no pressure.
“I don’t want to put that on me or anybody else,” Kaleikini said, “because we don’t grow that way.”
While all of the Vulcans started the season cold in the literal sense, Kaleikini was there figuratively as well. She struck four times in the opener and was hitless in her first six at-bats before going 10 of 19 to reach .400, with one home run.
Batting .302 as a team, Perreira said UHH hit well enough that it hasn’t had to show off it new sources of speed yet, and he’s comfortable using all four of his pitchers. Utilizing a slow changeup, Leah Gonzales (0.58 ERA in 12 innings) has been strong in relief, and Perreira said Valerie Alvarado has come on strong in practice after getting off to somewhat of a slow start on the road.
“We’re ready for what’s to come,” Kaleikini said Thursday. “We’ve learned from the first eight games and we’re ready to move forward.”
Hold that thought.
• At Wong Stadium, the UH-Hilo baseball team’s alumni game was interrupped in the fifth inning by rain with the score 2-2.