Baldwin softball coach Sanoe Kekahuna did not step on the field Wednesday against Kapolei because of a knee injury.

What her Bears did on the field was quite remarkable.

Lahela Painter singled in Shaileah Brown with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as No. 3 Baldwin beat Kapolei 12-11 in the quarterfinals of the DataHouse/HHSAA Division I Softball Championship tournament.

Leila Kahalewai homered and drove in five runs and Painter went 3-for-4 with a homer, three runs and two RBIs for Baldwin in the game at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Kahalewai and Painter helped the Bears take the lead after trailing 3-0 in the second, but the Hurricanes battled back with six runs in the top of the seventh to tie it at 11-11 before Painter’s game-winner to center.

“As far as Baldwin, we are going to continue to play Baldwin softball,” Kekahuna said. “We will keep our heads down and just continue to push and fight through.”

In the Bears’ seventh, Hurricanes starter Kandi Malama-Ahlo retired the first two batters. Malialei Dafun singled and was replaced by Brown, who stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Painter then lined a full-count pitch past the second baseman.

“It was down the middle. I was waiting for her to throw me inside because she was mostly throwing me outside,” Painter said.

Kekahuna credited Brown’s aggressive base running for setting up the winning hit.

“We have been stressing a lot of base running this MIL season, being able to put those little things into play and small details,” Kekahuna said.

Baldwin, the MIL champion, plays Kamehameha in today’s semifinals at 4:30 p.m. at RWSS.

“We came here really confident and we came as a team and I’m really excited for tomorrow’s game,” Painter said.

The Bears had three doubles and four home runs among their 11 hits.

“I felt really good. I felt like I made some good, solid contact. Being able to see my team at home plate made me really happy,” said Kahalewai, Baldwin’s No. 8 hitter.

Kekahuna said she tore the meniscus in her left knee in a workplace accident.

“I’m just trying to take care of my health and my body for now and hoping I don’t get run over by these 21 girls,” the coach said.

Kapolei, the OIA runner-up, appeared to be down and out going into the final inning down 11-5, but the Hurricanes kept stringing together hits against Baldwin starter Lennel Olaivar-Sugse.

Kaylisa Nakoa hit a lead-off homer to right, Malama-Ahlo had a run-scoring single, Kama Seminavage hit a two-run double, River Hawn hit an RBI double and Dezeyer Faagai had a run-scoring single.

Baldwin then regrouped and got the run it needed in the bottom half of the inning.

“In the end, we just looked at each other and said we’re going to play for each other at this point. Team first,” Kahalewai said.

The Hurricanes went up 2-0 in the top of the first on Kayara Tuiloma’s sacrifice fly and Malama-Ahlo’s RBI single.

There was a 65-minute rain delay in the bottom half of the inning.

Kapolei took a 3-0 lead in the second when Sienna Kauhi scored on a throwing error.

Baldwin cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom half on Kahalewai’s two-run homer to center.

The Bears (15-0) took a 5-3 lead in the third when Camryn Nakamura hit a two-run double and scored on a throwing error.

The Hurricanes (10-8) tied it at 5-5 in the fourth on Kauhi’s two-run homer to center.

Baldwin reclaimed the lead at 6-5 on Painter’s inside-the-park home run.

The Bears scored four in the fifth to take a 10-5 advantage. Nakamura hit a lead-off homer to left and Kahalewai belted a three-run shot to left.

“Leila’s been doing really awesome this year,” Kekahuna said. “She’s doing exactly what she wants to do. She’s come far and she’s grown.”

Baldwin added a run in the sixth on Briana Maio-Silva’s RBI double to right.