One swing of the bat can make a huge difference and it did Saturday night in Campbell’s 5-2 softball victory over Mililani.
With two runners aboard in the bottom of the first, the Sabers’ Jocelyn Alo took a Misha Carreira pitch deep and way over the left-field fence at the McKinley High field for a quick 3-0 lead. Ultimately, those three runs decided the outcome.
“Jocelyn always makes a big difference,” Campbell coach Michael Hermosura said. “We gotta get men on first and second in order for them to pitch to her and it just so happened that they did … and she took it out of the park.”
The odds are not with pitchers who choose to put one over the plate to Alo, the reigning All-State position player of the year, and Mililani coach Rose Antonio knows that all too well.
“We should have just not pitched to her, that’s the bottom line,” Antonio said. “That was the plan going in, but … I don’t know.”
Alo was a bit surprised to get such a nice one down the pipe.
“A lot of the people haven’t been pitching to me, but we make do with it,” she said. “Normally I stand off the plate and I think every coach knows that. This time I stood with my toes on the line and she pitched to me and it was a good pitch and I hit it.”
With the win, top-ranked Campbell improved to 4-1 and the fifth-ranked Trojans fell to 3-2 in the ultra-tight Oahu Interscholastic Association West.
Caisha Nunes’ RBI double later in the first boosted the count to 4-0, and the Sabers made it 5-0 on Alesia Ranches’ run-scoring double in the second.
It took a while for the Trojans to begin to figure out Campbell right-hander Dani Cervantes, who picked up the complete-game win with just one walk and nine strikeouts.
Cervantes mowed through the order in the first three innings, with two strikeouts each time. She cooled off a bit after that as Mililani mounted its comeback.
In the fourth, Trojans leadoff batter Tarah Aniya caught a fastball and sent it over the left-field fence to make it 5-1. Although Mililani didn’t add to the lead in the inning, the next two batters — Maya Yoshiura and Merlilas Rivera — smoked hard drives to center that were hauled in by the Sabers’ Cieana Curran.
“I just wanted to time the ball and I tried to see it good and it worked out good,” Aniya said about her homer. “I didn’t think I hit it that good, so that’s why I was running so hard around the bases and then I saw the umpire do the hand thing (signalling the home run).”
From the third to sixth innings, Carreira, the Trojans’ right-hander, allowed just four runners and no runs, and she finished with seven strikeouts.
“Misha settled down and (on offense) we started to make contact, but it was straight to them,” Antonio said.
Jerae Keliikoa and Maya Saneishi led off the Mililani sixth with infield hits, and pinch runner Tracie Okumura went to third and home on two illegal pitches by Cervantes for the final run of the game. The umpire ruled that Cervantes had dirt in either her hand or her glove on those two pitches.
“Normally she picks up dirt and throws it down and wipes her hand,” Hermosura said. “I don’t think she put dirt in her glove, but if he sees that, then it’s our mistake and we’ll make adjustments. I cannot see her doing that at all because she normally doesn’t do that.”
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PREP SCOREBOARD
ILH SOFTBALL
No. 4 Kamehameha 12, Pac-Five 2, 5 inn.
At McKinley
>> Pac-Five (1-5) 001 01 — 2 5 0
>> KSK (3-1-1) 301 53 — 12 9 1
Kiara Peterson, Megan Yoshioka (4) and Hi‘ialo Apo. Gabrielle Tyrell, Reese Mokuau (5) and Kyler Stephens. W—Tyrell. L—Peterson.
Leading hitters— Pac-Five: Alisha Candelario 2-3, HR; Mailani Dias 2b. Kamehameha: Tausani Tavale 3-4, 3 runs; Dallas Millwood 2b, 3 runs; Stephens 2b, 3 RBIs; Alana Cobb-Adams 2 runs; Mo Hasegawa 2-2, 2b, 3 RBIs.
No. 7 Maryknoll 6, Mid-Pacific 5
At Sand Island Field
>> Mid-Pacific (0-5) 101 001 2 — 5 6 2
>> Maryknoll (4-1) 006 000 x — 6 11 1
Kaalea Hanawahine and L. Nakamoto. Kahilu McNicoll, Sydney Kamakawi (6) and B. Kahele, K. Aracayena (6). W—McNicoll. L—Hanawahine.
Leading hitters— MPI: Hanawahine 2-4, 2b, run, RBI; Michaela Fonoti 2b, RBI; Maryknoll: Nohea Hee 2-4, run; Kanoe Tanigawa 2-4, HR, run, 3 RBIs; McNicoll 2-4, 2b; Kamalei Labasan 2-4, 2b, run, RBI.
OIA EAST SOFTBALL
Kailua 15, Kalaheo 0, 5 inn.
At Kalaheo
>> Kailua (3-2) 432 60 — 15 NA NA
>> Kalaheo (1-4) 000 00 — 0 2 NA
Desiree Chang, Dyani Cummings-Lani (3) and Denise Nagayama, Keani Yamamoto (3). Tiffani Beach, Michelle Sasaki (2) and Skyla Bain. W—Cummings-Lani. L—Beach.
Leading hitters— Kailua: Akamulei Makua 2 runs; Chang 3-4, 3 runs; Cummings-Lani 2b, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Harley Texeira 2 RBIs; Kamaile Hanawahine 2b, 2 RBIs; Kassy Kealoha-Machado 2b, 3 RBIs; Jennika Odo 2-4.
OIA WEST SOFTBALL
No. 1 Campbell 5, No. 5 Mililani 2
At McKinley
>> Mililani (3-2) 000 101 0 — 2 4 0
>> Campbell (4-1) 410 000 0 — 5 8 0
Misha Carreira and Marie Okamoto. Dani Cervantes and Jocelyn Alo. W—Cervantes. L—Alo.
Leading hitters— Mililani: Tarah Aniya 2-2, HR. Campbell: Trinity Favela 3-4, 2b, 2 runs; Alesia Ranches 2b; Alo HR, 3 RBIs; Cieana Curran 2-3, 2b; Caisha Nunes 2b.
No. 2 Pearl City 10, Waianae 0, 5 inn.
At Pearl City
>> Waianae (0-5) 000 00 — 0 0 4
>> Pearl City (5-0) 211 6x — 10 7 1
Kayla Hensley, Hepua Tambaoan and Tyra Pai. Tyanna Kaaialii and Hailey-Alexis Yamaguchi. W—Kaaialii. L—Hensley.
Leading hitters— Pearl City: Kylie Tasaki 3-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Tita Saunders 2b, 3 RBIs.
No. 8 Leilehua 9, Nanakuli 3
At Leilehua
>> Nanakuli (1-4) 001 101 0 — 3 5 6
>> Leilehua (4-2) 310 203 x — 9 9 4
Cranci. Kamaka, Chalyssa-Ann Belford (2) and Kaila Burnett. Kaena Nistal and Stasia Micky. W—Nistal. L—Kamaka.
Leading hitters- Nanakuli: A. McCoy HR; K. Cabico 2-3. Leilehua: Pomai Nahulu 2-3; Kamryn Kamakaiwi HR; Gigi Araki 2-3, HR; Ashley Salausa HR, 2 RBIs.
OIA DIVISION II SOFTBALL
Kalani 15, McKinley 1, 5 inn.
At McKinley
>> Kalani (3-0) 139 11 — 15 14 0
>> McKinley (0-3) 000 10 — 1 3 0
Cherise Horita, Toni-Lynn Ibara (4) and Jazlyn Furuya, Kylie Pagud (4). Pamela Espinda and Gabrielle Viramontes. W—Horita. L—Espinda.
Leading hitters— Kalani: Shandi Matsumoto 2-4, run; Horita 3-4, 2b, run, 2 RBIs; Pagud 2-4, 2b, run, RBI; Diamond DeMello 2-4, 2b, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Jalen Nishihara 2-3, 2b, 2 runs, RBI; Furuya 3b, 3 runs, RBI. McKinley: Viramontes 2b, RBI.
Kaimuki 23, Kahuku 7, 6 inn.
At Kahuku
>> Kaimuki (4-0) 068 108 — 23 11 0
>> Kahuku (0-3 ) 310 201 — 7 9 12
Leilani Mauricio, Keihara Henry (1) and Trinity Inouye. Kuuipo Aumua and Jolyn Uli, Trinity Seguritan (4). W—Henry. L—Aumua.
Leading hitters— Kaimuki: Serena Titer 3-4; Sonia Palik 2-2, HR; Henry 3b; Liza Anien 2-3; Mauricio 3b. Kahuku: Seguritan 3-3, 3b, HR; Lehiwa Benson 2-4; Tiara Letoi 2-3, 2b; Fia Tufele 2b.
Also — Radford def. Waipahu by forfeit
NONCONFERENCE SOFTBALL
Desert Mountain Softball Invitational
At Horizon Park, Ariz.
Saturday
>> Pinnacle (Phoenix) 10, Punahou 0
>> Desert Ridge (Mesa, Ariz.) 11, Punahou 10
