It was a slugger’s paradise as No. 3 Maryknoll upended No. 7 Kamehameha 16-9 in an ILH softball game Wednesday at the Warriors’ home field.

Grand slams by Liliana Thomas and Kaylah Santos pushed the Spartans to a 14-4 lead, and the visitors worked to hold off a strong comeback bid.

In all, five balls left the park, including three by the Warriors, who did not go down quietly.

“We’ve been very, very fortunate with the bats — from one through nine,” Maryknoll coach John Uekawa said. “Our ninth batter (Santos) hit a grand slam today and she hit a homer when we played St. Francis (a 13-3, six-inning victory Saturday).”

In the pitcher’s circle, Aloha Akaka went the distance for the win and successfully made it through some rough middle innings by getting 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh.

“Sometimes it takes a while to turn on her engine, but once she gets revving, she’s OK,” Uekawa said.

Santos finished her day with five RBIs, and seven of Maryknoll’s nine starters drove in at least one run.

“I had one (homer) here my sophomore year,” Santos said. “I was just trying to do it for the team, not thinking. It was just, ‘hit the ball.’ (Kamehameha coming back) showed that we still have to work hard, but I still think we’re a great team that works well together.”

Thomas’ slam gave the Spartans an 8-2 bulge in the third, and two innings later, Santos’ slam was the big blow in a six-run rally that boosted the lead to 10 runs at 14-4 and put Kamehameha (2-1) in danger of an early ending.

At that point, the Warriors were living by the long ball, with Destiny Lum cranking a two-run homer to center in the second and Colby McClinton and Keila Kamoku adding solo shots in the third.

Just when it appeared that Kamehameha was ready to cave in, the Warriors erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 14-9. That surge came thanks to Gabrielle Tyrell’s two-run single and RBI hits by Haley Agena and Isha Knight.

“After the game, that is one thing we told them, that we are proud of their energy,” Warriors first-year varsity coach Leo Sing Chow said. “We struggled with that in preseason. For them to fight all the way to the last pitch, that’s an improvement and we can only get better from here.”

Maryknoll (3-0) closed out the scoring in the fifth, when Allyse Pagaoa keyed a two-run frame with an RBI triple.

Kamehameha pitcher Haley Lyman took the loss, and her seven walks in 32⁄3 innings didn’t help. The Warriors got 31⁄3 innings of effective relief from Autumn Sulusi.