Before every big game, Kohala coach softball Terrence Alcoran said he tells Mikayla Kekoa something she probably already knows.
As one two seniors on a team that starts three freshman, Kekoa has to be special for the Cowgirls to click.
Special probably doesn’t do Kekoa’s outing Saturday against Waiakea any justice. One of the more accomplished BIIF athletes of her time, Kekoa delivered a signature performance, striking out 15 batters in a five-hitter as Kohala went on the road to hand the Warriors their first loss in almost three years, 7-2.
“We’re a young team and they’re a tough team,” Kekoa said, “beating them is really good.”
Oh yeah, Kekoa also drove in four runs with three hits as the Cowgirls (4-0) broke the four-time defending BIIF Division I champion Warriors’ 42-game BIIF winning streak. Waiakea hadn’t lost since March 26, 2016, at Kealakehe.
Kekoa, the team’s ace since her freshman season, said her 15 strikeouts were a career-high – she fanned at least two in every inning but the seventh – as she outdueled Halee Sweat, who struck out 11.
Alcoran, in his second season of his second coaching stint at Kohala, also reached a milestone.
“I’ve coached for like 10 years,” he said. “First time I beat Waiakea in my life. I’ve beat every other team, and I finally beat them.”
Largely thanks to Kekoa, who hit three batters but didn’t issue a free pass.
“Mikayla has to hold us up. She has to get down and do what she got to do,” Alcoran said. “She’s a senior. She has to carry us.”
One group of Warriors down, one to go for Kohala.
As good as the tall right-hander was against Waiakea– she silenced a lineup that amassed 29 runs and 12 extra-base hits in wins against Kealakehe and Hilo – she said she’d have to increase her intensity when the Division II Cowgirls take on Kamehameha, the seven-time D-II champ, on Tuesday at Walter Victor complex.
“Come a little harder, more aggressive,” she said.
Kekoa kept pounding the inside corner of the plate, whether she got the call or not, and coach Bo Saiki said the Warriors never made the proper adjustment.
Waiakea also was responsible for each of the game’s four errors, leading to four unearned runs off of Sweat.
“They were crowding the plate so I was pitching inside more,” Kekoa said.
Daynka Cazimero, Kohala’s other senior, led off the game with a triple to right, and two batters later Kekoa brought her home with a single.
In the bottom of the first, Kekoa was touched for an triple off the bat of Kayla Kodani that scored Alize Ka’apana (2 for 4), who had singled, but she wouldn’t allow another hit until the sixth.
Sweat settled in as well, striking out the side in the second and third and retiring eight in a row until the Cowgirls loaded the bases in the fifth on walks by Anela Cazimero and Pilila’i Kaai and Cheylin Imai’s single. Daynka Cazimero’s grounder gave Kohala 2-1 lead, and after another walk, Kekoa belted a double to center to score two more runs.
Three errors and Kekoa’s RBI single led to two insurance runs in the seventh.
Saiki said he asked his hitters to move back in the batter’s box against Kekoa but to no avail, and he lamented the fact that Waiakea struck out looking nine times, saying, “At least if you stick the bat out there you can get lucky.”
Sweat went the distance and allowed seven hits with four walks.
Kekoa was touched for another run in the sixth when Ka’apana singled and Ziara Tosie followed with a double, but she promptly struck out the side for the second consecutive inning.
Kekoa helped carry the Cowgirls to their first BIIF volleyball title in 2018 and was named player of the year.
Alcoran is excited for what’s next.
“Her attitude is top, very good,” he said. “The freshman played good. One game at a time and play tough.”