Lady Surfriders, Knights Ready For DI Softball Tournament
For the Castle and Kailua girls softball teams, the so-called second season finally has arrived. First up, both teams will play in this week’s OIA Division I tournament, which runs Tuesday through Friday at various sites. (Thursday’s semifinals and Friday’s championship will be at Central Oahu Regional Park.)
Berths for the upcoming DI state softball championships also will be on the line, as the top six OIA finishers will receive the league’s bids. Pairings for the DI tourney were to be finalized Saturday.
Windward Oahu Islander takes a look at the postseason prospects for Castle and Kailua.
Castle Knights
Record: 6-5, heading into the season finale versus Roosevelt
Wins: over Moanalua 15-5 March 10, over McKinley 14-3 in five innings March 14, over Kaimuki 7-2 March 21, over Moanalua 13-3 in six innings April 14, over McKinley 15-4 in five innings April 9, over Kaimuki 13-2 April 16
Losses: to Kaiser 10-1 March 7, to Kailua 10-4 March 17, to Roosevelt 6-3 March 28, to Kaiser 9-0 April 2, to Kailua 4-2 April 14
OIA tournament history: Castle has three OIA titles — 1980, 1998 and 1991.
2015 Knights at a glance: The team finished its OIA DI East slate playing some of its best softball of the spring, posting wins in three of its last four games prior to the finale with Roosevelt. That game was to be huge for playoff seeding, as Castle was in a three-way tie with Roosevelt and Moanalua for the East’s third seed for this week’s tournament.
Castle’s bats have also come alive of late, as the Knights have tallied 43 runs over their last four outings. They have a 6-1 record when tallying four runs or more, offensively.
On the defensive side, they yielded just over three runs per game over the last four outings.
Kailua Surfriders
Record: 8-3, heading into the finale with Kaiser late last week
Wins: over McKinley 23-3 in four innings March 7, over Kaimuki 11-6 March 14, over Castle 10-4 March 17, over Moanalua 12-3 March 21, over McKinley 12-6 April 2, over Kaimuki 11-0 April 9, over Castle 4-2 April 14, over Roosevelt 11-7 April 18
Losses: to Roosevelt 6-2 March 24, to Kaiser 11-2 March 31, to Moanalua 10-0 March 16
OIA tournament history: Kailua has won 14 OIA titles in its history, between 1981 and 2006.
2015 Surfriders at a glance: Pitching and defense may win championships, but Kailua’s offensive output has gone a long way in aiding the team’s cause so far. Kailua reached or exceeded the 10-run plateau in all but one of its eight wins, and it’s 8-0 when scoring three runs or more. (Conversely, it’s 0-3 when scoring less than three runs.)
Taufau Williams, Moani Kupahu and Robi Lono have been among Kailua’s offensive leaders and entered the weekend among the OIA Red’s top hitters.
Williams’ five home runs also ranked her first in the OIA Red and tied her for first in the state in Division I.
Freshman Dyani Cummings-Lani is having a solid season on the mound for Kailua, meanwhile, with four complete games and a 5-2 record in six appearances.
jackster.1969@yahoo.com
