Even after each of her 114 strikeouts as a senior at Kaiser High School, Primrose Aholelei wasn’t sure her career would continue on.
Despite her success as one of the top pitchers in not just the OIA, but the entire state, the twin sister of Precious Aholelei, one of eight children in the family, never even had Division I collegiate softball as a possibility.
She was able to make it into school at Bossier Parish, a junior college in northwestern Louisiana, along with her sister.
With two 40-plus win seasons and a spot on the NJCAA All-America first team in her back pocket after the COVID-19 pandemic, Primrose Aholelei is now among the strikeout leaders in the country as a senior right-hander at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“We didn’t think we would make it out of Kaiser, so being able to play at a junior college was the biggest thing,” Primrose said. “Just came in with the mindset to make something of myself and having the motivation to play for people that I love, especially for my family at home since they are watching from afar. They are supporting from afar, so doing everything with them.”
Her sister has joined her for her senior year, and the Aholelei sisters have been battery mates in roughly half the season together.
Precious Aholelei started 23 of the 27 regular-season games she has appeared in behind the plate, catching for her sister, Primrose, who went 15-10 this regular season with 182 strikeouts in 1611⁄3 innings pitched entering the playoffs.
Despite another strong effort by Primrose Aholelei, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was eliminated by Houston Christian in the first round of the Southland Conference tournament on Tuesday.
She started with five shutout innings as the Lions led 2-0. But she gave up two runs in the sixth and was charged with two more in the seventh in a 7-2 loss to the Huskies. Primrose pitched 61⁄3 innings, allowing nine hits and four earned runs while striking out nine. Precious started and went 0-for-1 in the game.
The two have made their presence felt for second-year coach Kathleen Rodriguez, who coached against the sisters in junior college.
When she accepted the job at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Rodriguez knew right away who she wanted to call.
“It was unexpected. We didn’t know that our head coach now got the job here, but she called us first and we came on a visit and we came there,” Primrose Aholelei said.
Located on the southeastern coast of Texas, Corpus Christi is a coastal town with a beach that Precious says “is not like home at all.”
That’s not meant to be a complaint. Just making it to Division I softball is the dream that never seemed attainable, until it was.
“Personally, as a catcher, I didn’t think I could come this far, especially coming out of Hawaii, where not many players make it,” Precious Aholelei said. “I feel like it’s already hard coming out of my school, but then to play in Louisiana is something you don’t think about.”
Primrose, who was the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year as a junior, said it has been even more fun this season with her sister behind the plate.
“It actually feels good. I think that was always my plan. I wanted to play with her just because we have that twin dynamic, so it was kind of nice having her back this year, having her catch me,” she said.
PRIMROSE AHOLELEI
5-8, Sr., RHP
Kaiser High School (2019)
CAREER STATISTICS
YEAR APP-GS IP H ER BB SO W-L ERA
2023 33-31 203 172 53 53 186 19-14 2.35
2024 27-23 161 1/3 120 48 68 182 15-10 2.68
TOTAL 60-54 364 1/3 292 101 121 368 34-24 2.50
PRECIOUS AHOLELEI
5-7, Jr., C
Kaiser High School (2019)
CAREER STATISTICS
YEAR GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG.
2024 27-23 40 1 4 2 0 0 4 .100
