Waiakea’s win Monday against Hilo was in no way unexpected, but it did come with fortuitous bonus.
Johnacy Mackwelung reclaimed her power stroke, slugging a three-run home run along with two doubles, and Halee Sweat pitched a five-inning, TKO shortened two-hitter in the Warriors’ 11-0 BIIF softball romp.
More than half of Waiakea’s 12 hits at its field went for extra bases, and Mackwelung hit a two-run double to put the Warriors (9-1) head 4-0 in the second. In the bottom of the third, Sweat singled and Lyndsey-Mae Carvalho doubled before Tristen Cullio drove in a run with a hit. Mackwelung, a junior who was one of the BIIF’s top sluggers as a freshman, followed with a homer to right to make it 10-0.
The Vikings (3-6) saw a modest two-game winning end and never advanced a runner past second base. Chalisse Kela struck out one and walked one in four innings of work, giving up 12 hits and 11 runs, nine earned.
Sweat didn’t walk a batter and faced only two over the minimum, striking out five.
Alize Ka’apana had extra-base hits in her first two at-bats, driving in the Warriors’ first run with a triple, and her double in the second brought home Claire Kaneshiro, who had singled, to make it 6-0.
Waiakea scored its final run in the fourth as Kayla Kodani led off with a double and scored one out later on Cullio’s second run-scoring hit.
Konawaena 10, Honokaa 8: The Wildcats used three errors, two walks and a bunt single to fuel a six-run rally in the fifth, and two more bunts also ignited a four run-rally in the sixth as Konawaena held on for a road win to stay within striking distance of the Dragons for third place in D-II.
Honokaa (4-4) beat the Wildcats 17-7 on March 18, and though the Dragons (5-6) outhit Konawaena 12-8 in this one they committed seven of the game’s 10 errors. Only two of runs allowed by Honokaa pitchers were earned.
The Wildcats trailed 1-0 until turning to small-ball. Ana Medeiros hit a two-run single in the fifth, and Magedlynn Anuntak and Tianny Tagavilla each brought home two more with a hits in the sixth. Anuntak and Tagavilla had two hits apiece.
Andi Uemura went the distance for Konawaena. With the tying run at the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh, a Honokaa runner was picked off and Uemura struck out her ninth batter to end it. She was charged with 12 hits and eight runs with three walks.
The Dragons scored in every inning but the second and third. Alexis Martinez was 3 for 4, including a triple, with two runs scored and two runs batted in, Destynee Carvalho was 3 for 4 with a double, Ceelyn Gali-Lucero collected a pair of run-scoring hits in four at-bats and Aulii Meyer drove in a run with a triple in the seventh to start a three-run rally. Natasha Molina was 2 for 2 with two runs scored.
Tehani Epenesa started and worked 4 1/3 innings in defeat, allowing four hits and three runs, one earned, with a walk and three strikeouts, and Martinez went 1 2/3, giving up four hits and seven run, just one earned.
