KEAAU — Caitlyn Calhoun and Mackenzie Singleton don’t throw hard, but they recorded enough outs to turn the ball over to Lohi Kamakea-Wong, who is just nails when she’s sharp in the strike zone.
That pitching-by-committee strategy worked, and the Cougars rallied past Kealakehe 4-3 in a BIIF softball game on Saturday, maintaining sole possession of first place.
“We wanted to mix it up, instead of just having fastballs,” Keaau coach Peter Ngirngotel said. “To me, it was a whole team effort.”
Keaau (6-1) inched closer to the BIIF regular season title, which includes a berth to the HHSAA Division I state tournament.
The Cougars still have obstacles in their way. They host Waiakea on Tuesday, and play unbeaten Division II Kamehameha on April 15.
The Waveriders (4-3) are suddenly longshots for the league’s automatic and first berth to states, and a breakdown on defense was their undoing.
The BIIF will get two state berths to the Division I state tourney, unlike last year when there was a play-in game for league runner-up Waiakea, which lost to Leilehua.
The league will again have three spots to the Division II state tournament. (For baseball and volleyball, the BIIF has two state berths in each division.)
Kealakehe starter Kiara Canitberos took a tough-luck loss. She finished with a five-hitter, but of her four runs allowed three were unearned.
In fact, she was having a nice stroll in the park, and was rolling along with a no-hitter through three innings.
Then with one out in the fourth, Ranchell Berinobis jumped on a mistake down the middle of the plate, and yanked it over the left-field fence for a solo homer to cut Kealakehe’s lead to 3-1.
The Cougars scratched their way for three unearned runs in the sixth on two hits and two helpful errors.
“We made a few mistakes and couldn’t finish off the No. 8 hitter,” Kealakehe coach Wesley Takimoto said. “That killed us, but our pitcher did good until that inning. It looks like there’s a lot of parity this year.”
Takimoto is right. The Division I race looks wide open. Keaau last went to states in 2013 and Kealakehe in 2011. Maybe both will be dance partners this year.
Anyway, after the bases were loaded, Keaau’s No. 8 hitter, Charity Dunway, was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Then Tiana Kupumau reached on an error that tied the game.
Leadoff hitter and shortstop Rylann Hacoba poked an RBI single for the go-ahead run in a productive inning that could have been bigger.
Earlier, on a comebacker, Cantiberos threw to catcher Leisha Nakagawa to get a forceout at home.
Keaau topped Kealakehe in that forceout-at-home stat, 4-1.
In the first inning, Calhoun put herself into a pickle when she loaded the bases. But Hacoba gunned down a runner at home, and on the next play Kupumau, the second baseman, did the same.
Calhoun threw to catcher Erleen Oguma in the third to neutralize a run, and first baseman Berinobis did the same in the sixth.
No one from either team paired hits, but Oguma had a gold glove day. If the senior Cougar dropped any of the four balls at the plate, it would have been a different ballgame.
Meanwhile, Calhoun pitched 4 1/3 innings of three-run ball (two runs unearned), and Singleton got two outs.
After seeing slow stuff all day, that was a nice bridge to the hard-throwing Kamakea-Wong, who entered the sixth with one out and no out.
The senior right-hander silenced that mini-threat, and blitzed through two innings for the win, which didn’t have her thinking too far ahead.
“We just worked as a team,” Kamakea-Wong said. “We have to practice hard and get ready for our next game against Waiakea. We’re just taking it game by game, and working our way to get to BIIFs.”
Kealakehe 100 110 0 — 3 4 3
Keaau 000 103 x — 4 5 5
Konawaena 10, Waiakea 9: Kaimana Joy-Manzano’s RBI single in the fifth put the Wildcats ahead for good, her two-run triple in the seventh gave the visiting Wildcats a key insurance run, and Bethany Batangan hung tough in the circle to help Konawaena hang on.
Ahead 6-4, the Wildcats (3-3) scored five runs in the top of the seventh, and they needed each one after Taylor Nishimura hit a three-run double in the bottom of the seventh. With Nishimura at third representing the tying run, Batangan struck out Cierra Kellett-Tavares to end the game.
Kiersen Kawahi Kahele hit a homer as Konawaena ended a two-game losing streak and tied Kohala and Honokaa for second place in Division II.
Skylar Thomas hit a home run for the Warriors (2-3), who are the only team with a losing record in Division I. Nishimura was 3 for 5 with four RBIs.
Alyssa Hara took the loss. In six-plus innings, she allowed 10 runs, 12 hits with two strikeouts.
Shyla Victor, Lihue Wessel and Jordan Losalio-Watson each had two hits for Konawaena. In a complete game, Batangan walked four and struck out two.
Taylor Ogawa, Kristi Harata (single, double) and Shaily Moses had two hits apiece for Waiakea.
Konawaena 210 021 4 – 10 12 1
Waiakea 310 000 5 – 9 12 2
Honokaa 21, Ka’u 1: Taylor Tabucbuc pitched four innings and scored three runs for the Dragons (3-3), who scored 18 runs in the second inning to win at home.
Tabucbuc, who walked three and struck out three, was one of five Honokaa players to finish with two hits. Keesha Matsuoka drove in two runs and scored three times, Kayla Requelman scored two runs with an RBI, Maluhia Sanchez scored twice and Puili Hanohano drove in a run.
Sheri Lynn Freitas walked seven and struck out three to take to loss for the Trojans (2-4). Analei Emmsley-Ah Yee drove in Ka’u’s run with a sacrifice fly.
Kau 001 0 – 1 3 7
Honokaa 0(18)3x –21 13 2
Kamehameha 21, Hawaii Prep 2: Freshman Taylor Sullivan hit two home runs and pitched three innings to get the win in her native Waimea.
In her first start in the circle this season, Sullivan walked three and struck out one and allowed two runs and three hits. She drove in three runs. Kekai Wong Yuen hit a two-run home run for the Warriors (7-0).
Courtney Barro-Kilmede hit an RBI double for Ka Makani (1-4) and Taimane Kamaka singled.
Kam 344 46 – 21 16 1
HPA 200 00 2 3 5
