With rain on the forecast, the UH-Hilo softball team was lucky to get one game in, and it was a master class in hitting by Vevesi Liilii, the senior slugger, who had a .523 slugging percentage in 21 games during the pandemic shortened season last year.
The Vulcans thumped Hawaii Pacific 6-1 in Game 1 of a PacWest doubleheader on Sunday at the Walter Victor complex. Game 2 was called with UHH ahead 4-0 in the first inning and will be started from scratch on a road trip to HPU.
Liilii smoked a three-run homer to highlight a six-run third inning for Valerie Alvarado, who finished with a four-hitter and showed the experience of a six-year senior in UHH’s season opener. She didn’t strike out anyone but knows how to change speeds and pitch to contact.
It was UHH’s first game in 53 weeks, and Alvarado was happy not just about her pitching but also to just be playing again.
“It felt great, like I never left. It was good. It went well,” she said. “I tried to take it one pitch at a time and one inning at a time as well. That (Liilii’s homer) was a game-changer and got our momentum going.”
The Vulcans did a good job adjusting to HPU starter Malia Torres’ changeup, which had the hitters off-balanced through two shutout innings.
“We noticed she’s a dropball pitcher and as well as a changeup, and we were waiting to hit a bad pitch, and Vevesi got a high changeup and that opened up the game,” UHH coach Callen Perreira said. “We know what Val can do and she performed well.
“We’ve been together two months and didn’t have a fall. It’s good. We did well.”
In the first, Kiarra Lincoln showed how deadly she is as a leadoff hitter, especially with her speed. She drew a walk and raced to third on Darian Obara’s sacrifice bunt. Lincoln was on third with one out, setting up the Vuls for an easy run.
Liilii worked the count to 1-1, a key count to favorable hitting. You don’t need to be an analytics expert to know that batting averages are higher on a 2-1 count vs. a 1-2 count.
The center fielder, from Iolani and an Eastern Arizona College transfer, fouled off a pitch and took a ball. The count ran to 2-2. She was late on her swing and fouled off another pitch. Torres had her thinking.
Liilii had to be prepared if Torres crossed her up and threw a fastball. But she also had to be mindful and keep her hands back if Torres threw her a changeup.
Torres is from Danville, Calif., and the junior right-hander went 9-5 with a 2.82 ERA last season, so obviously, she knows how to pitch.
At Eastern Arizona, Liilii hit .403 with 15 homers and 65 RBIs and helped the Gila Monsters finish fifth in the nation. She can flat out hit.
But Torres did what Greg Maddux used to do to polish his Hall of Fame reputation. He would throw balls that look like strikes to get key outs. And that’s what Torres did. She threw a changeup, a really good one, low and away. Liilii struck out.
Fast forward to the third when Angel Prewitt singled and Lincoln reached on an error. With one out, Liilii had another shot to do damage and worked the count to 1-1 and eventually to 3-2.
Then the chess match got interesting. Torres threw her a changeup, and Liilii was late and fouled it off. Then Torres doubled down and threw another changeup, a major mistake, a meatball down the middle. It hung too high, and it arrived with a sign that said, “Hit me.”
Good hitters make their living capitalizing on pitcher’s mistakes. Liilii kept her hands back and nuked it 10 feet over the 200-foot left-field fence. She batted 2 for 3 with three RBIs to lead the Vulcans (1-0), who finished with seven hits.
Kanoe Tanigawa had two hits to lead the Sharks (0-3).
“I was just trying to stay calm, not force the hit and just hit the ball, find a way to get on base, basically,” she said. “I was observing all the people how they hit. She was throwing the changeup a lot and knew she was coming at me with that because she struck me out.”
How good of a hitter is Liilii, who learned the basics of hitting from her Mililani club team?
Well, she can hit elite pitching. Last season, she homered off Concordia’s Callie Nunes, an All-American right-hander, in UHH’s 1-0 win at Kealakehe High. In that game, the Vulcans had three hits, and Liilii had the biggest one.
To prove it was no fluke, Liilii hit a three-run homer off Nunes in a 5-0 victory, a day later, as the Vulcans took three games from the No. 8 Eagles.
How tough is Alvarado?
She threw a combined 12 shutout innings in both wins. She allowed six hits and three walks and struck out only three. In both games, the Vulcans had no errors. So, the Eagles hit the ball, but the defense backed her with flawless play, and Alvardo beat an All-American, twice.
Anyway, the bad weather showed what the aloha spirit is all about.
HPU is a private school, and the cost of airfare, hotel, van rental, and COVID testing runs well over $10,000. They foot the bill for everything, no state help.
So it was good for the Sharks to get at least one game in. They were looking for four but were grateful to get one in, despite the outcome.
“First of all, credit to coach Callen and his staff for getting the field ready,” HPU coach Jarnett Lono said. “It feels good to come up here and get a game in.”
Maybe a year or a decade from now, most of the players will remember Liilii’s three-run homer or Alvarado’s masterpiece in the circle. Or maybe all of them will remember what happened when the rain stopped for a short bit.
The Vulcans were trying to soak up the water with sponges. And there they were, too, the Sharks also helping.
