The on-the-tarp entertainment during a 90-minute UH-Hilo softball rain delay Tuesday was brought to do you, in part, by Waiakea alums Brandee Chinen and Skylar Thomas.
Isabelle Mejia showed off a few dance moves herself, but then he had to get ready for her next gig.
Once the tarp was removed, Mejia pretty much was the show, firing a darkness-shortened, six-inning shutout as the Vulcans beat all comers, scoring two wins apiece against merciful Notre Dame de Namur and merciless Mother Nature as they finally were able to play their home openers.
“I was dancing for a little, then after that I was like, ‘I have to relax and get ready for the next game,” Mejia said after a 1-0 win in which she drove in the only run. “We were playing at home, and that’s what I loved about it.”
The senior right-hander struck out six – her biggest punch out came with the bases loaded in the second – and worked around three walks in a two-hitter for UHH (7-3, 2-0 Pacific West Conference). The short-handed Vuls, who won the first game 5-2, are scheduled to play the Argonauts (0-17, 0-14) again Wednesday in a noon doubleheader at their field.
Focusing solely on pitching and defense this season, not the field, Mejia improved to 3-0 and lowered her ERA to 2.43 with her second complete game.
“It’s honestly helping a lot,” she said of no longer playing the outfield. “I feel more focused on my pitching and hitting.”
The Vuls got by on just four hits against tough-luck loser Sofia Garcia, getting a manufactured run from Kamehameha-Hawaii alum Kiarra Lincoln, who had four hits on the day.
Lincoln led off the third with a single, stole second, moved to third on Mae Kaleikini’s sacrifice bunt and scored Meija’s grounder.
In the first game, Thomas also manufactured a run, cranking a solo home run, and Lincoln doubled twice and drove in two runs, including a go-ahead single in the fourth
With her second home run, Thomas, a first baseman, matched her total from last season. As a freshman, she hit .258.
“It was hard last year to adjust, it took me a while, but I learned and I feel more confident and I have fun and that’s the main part,”she said. “The intensity (in college), it’s crazy, better pitchers, better hitters and college is back-to-back games. In high school, you can take a break. Now that we have four game series, it’s challenging.”
First-game starter Valerie Alvarado didn’t have it in the circle, walking seven batters in 2 1/3 innings, so Leah Gonzales (2-1) came in and did what Leah Gonzales usually does: provide seamless relief.
Coach Callen Perreira wasn’t discounting the victories, or the fact that that the Vuls were even able to get the games in, waiting out the rain and then getting in 5 1/2 innings before it became too dark to play.
But he called the day a struggle, some of which was to be expected since the Vuls hadn’t played in more than three weeks.
“We didn’t make adjustments like we normally do,” he said. “We practice better than we played today.
“Our time off, that shouldn’t be too much of an excuse. A little, bit too much.”
And there is not too much time off to be had the rest of the month. Beginning a 12-game home stand Tuesday, UHH is scheduled to play 29 contests in a 27-day stretch, and the Vuls have their tougher opponents on the road this season, which puts a premium on taking care of business at home.
“They’re still important,” Meija said. “Just have to stay focused on playing the game I love.”
She retired the side in the top of the first, but the rain intensified in the bottom half of the inning and the tarp was brought on to cover the infield.
Soon it resemlbed a dance floor.
With the Vuls putting in their musical requests and Chinen, a freshman who went 0 for 1 in each game, sometimes leading the way, the teams frolicked on the field for the next hour or so.
“I feel like that’s just chemistry playing a part,” Thomas said. “When the girls get along, they play better on the field.”
If one didn’t know better, they’d think the routines were all choreographed, but it comes naturally Meija said.
“The girls are all different (this season), I love that, more friendly,” Meija said. “New girl have come in, they are crazy and fun. They are all dorks. I love everyone.”
UHH center fielder was the only player to finish with two hits in the second game.
Earlier, with the game tied 1-1, Gonazales came in and allowed just two hits and an unearned run in 4 1/3 innings, walking two with four strikeouts.
“She came in and changed the pace of the game,” Perreira said.
