Gold Coast remained unbeaten in pool play Wednesday at the Senior League Softball World Series in Delaware, trouncing Europe-Africa 12-2.
The 16-and-under team from the Big Island jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the top of the second inning and never looked back, adding a seven-run fifth for the easy victory.
“The girls did well, but we still need to fix some of the details,” head coach Jerry Hiraishi said. “All the teams here are very good. We can’t make any mental mistakes.”
Seven seems to be a magic number for the Big Island squad en route to a 3-0 record. In their first game, Gold Coast reeled off a 7-3 victory over Central. In Game 2 against Canada, the girls used a pair of seven-run innings to earn a 14-2 TKO win.
Europe-Asia struggled defensively, committing five errors, which allowed for seven unearned runs.
Shaylann Marie Grace was dominant once again inside the circle, allowing one earned off six hits in five innings of work. She struck out eight. Grace was also a factor offensively.
With the bases loaded in the fifth, Grace sent a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam. She finished the day 2-for-4 with five RBIs and a run scored.
“(Grace) is real consistent,” Hiraishi said. “We rely on her and she had some good at-bats.”
Nanea Kalua‘u and Leiloa-Valerie Bustamante both added two hits apiece. Kalua‘u scored three times. Tehani Epenesa added a double.
The team rang up ridiculous offense numbers in its Montana regional, and the trend has continued despite moving further east. Gold Coast has outscored its three opponents by a combined score of 33-7, the best run differential in the tournament.
In the 10-team World Series, only two other squads have reeled off undefeated 3-0 records: Asia Pacific and host Delaware. All three, including a 2-1 Southeast squad, have qualified for the playoff rounds.
Gold Coast will play its final game of pool play today at 9 a.m. against a team from Florida, representing the Southeast. The game will ultimately decide the seeding in single-elimination play. If Gold Coast wins, the higher seed would go to them. If not, thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker, Southeast would finish as the top team in Pool B.
“We want to keep the momentum going for single elimination games,” Hiraishi said. “Consistency and momentum — those are the keys for us.”
