West Softball Teams Poised For This Week’s State Tournament
For the Aiea, Campbell and Pearl City high school softball teams, this week’s state tournament offers the opportunity to bring the ultimate end to an already-memorable 2014 season.
A preview of each team’s prospects is below. Pairings for the tournament, which runs Wed-nesday-Friday at UH Rainbow Wahine softball stadium, were to be announced Sunday.
Aiea High School
Season record: 13-2 overall
OIA White tournament results: Na Ali’i went 1-1, defeating Waialua 26-1 in the semifinals before losing to Nanakuli 10-5 in the DII championship game.
Key wins: Over Waialua 5-0 March 13, over Kalaheo 17-4 April 12, over McKinley 12-4 March 11, over Waialua 26-1 April 25
Na Ali’i at a glance: Although they lost a tough one to Nanakuli (which ended their state-best 13-game win streak), they enter states very much in the discussion among the favorites.
Take away Aiea’s two defeats, both of which were to Nanakuli, and it has been one of the most dominant teams in the state, with seven wins by shutouts already to its credit. Every Aiea win, in fact, has been a rout.
Having had last week to regroup could benefit the team greatly.
Campbell High School
Season record: 12-4 overall
OIA Red tournament results: The Sabers went 3-1 to finish fourth, posting wins over Kahuku 17-1, Kaiser 11-0 and Moanalua 11-10. Campbell’s only defeat came to eventual champion Mililani 1-0 in the semifinals.
Key wins: Over Kapolei 4-3 March 27, over Leilehua 11-9 April 5, over Mililani 5-2 April 10, over Kaiser 11-0 April 24, over
Moanalua 11-10 April 26
Sabers at a glance: That the team was only a couple of plays away from winning another OIA title recently just makes Campbell all the more dangerous this week at the state tournament, as it is likely to strongly motivated.
Indeed, the loss to eventual champ Mililani in the semifinals was a hard one to swallow, given that the game could have gone either way.
No team from the West, in fact, has been better than the Sabers statistically, with 100 runs scored in 16 games to date. All four of their losses have been by a single run.
If the team can shake off the effects of its hard-luck semifinals loss, it has the talent to be in state title contention.
Pearl City High School
Season record: 7-9 overall OIA Red tournament results: The Chargers went 3-1 to finish third, posting wins over Castle 6-0, Kapolei 2-0 and Leilehua 8-4. Pearl City’s only loss came in the quarterfinals to Waianae 3-0.
Key wins: Over Kapolei 1-0 March 13, over Leilehua 6-4 April 3, over Waipahu 11-4 April 10, over Kapolei 2-0 April 25, over Leilehua 8-4 April 26.
Chargers at a glance: After a late-season slump that saw the team drop three of their last four, it rebounded in a big way to take three of four at the OIA tourney to earn a third-place finish as well as the all-important berth for this week’s state tournament.
A 6-0 win over Castle in the first round helped set the tone, but the gem in Pearl City’s OIA playoff run was plainly a 2-0 shutout on the road over a solid Kapolei team in the consolation bracket, keeping state tournament hopes alive.
Pearl City pitcher Kristin Frost was stellar in that outing, striking out seven, while allowing just two walks to lead the way.
Offensively, the Chargers managed just two hits, but one of them was a clutch two-run single by senior and leadoff hitter Robin Kami. Look for both Frost and Kami to figure big again this week.
Email Jack Danilewicz at jackster.1969@yahoo.com
