Hawaii Grown Notebook: baseball, softball, women’s golf
BASEBALL
>> Aiva Arquette (Saint Louis), Washington: Drove in a run in the ninth inning of a season-ending 6-5 loss to Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament, but the rally died when the next batter hit into a fielder’s choice. Arquette finishes his sophomore campaign with a .325 batting average in 48 games with 12 home runs and 45 runs scored from the leadoff spot. He is hitting .311 in 60 games in his career.
>> Jacob Hinderleider (‘Iolani), Clemson: Hit his 13th home run of the season, a solo shot, in an 8-7 loss to Miami in the ACC Tournament, then had another hit in the ninth inning to set up an 8-7 win over Louisville. The Tigers host High Point, Vanderbilt and Coastal Carolina in an NCAA regional beginning Friday.
>> Caleb Lomavita (Saint Louis), California: Had two hits in each game of the Pac-12 Tournament, but the Bears fell to USC in the semifinals. Lomavita hit his 15th home run of the year three pitches into the loss to the Trojans, climbing to 10th on the program’s career RBI list. The junior was named a semifinalist for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year award before the tournament. Cal was one of the ‘next four’ teams left out of the NCAA Tournament, ending Lomavita’s season with a .322 batting average, 15 home runs, 52 RBIs and 12 steals. He has a shot to be a first-round pick in the MLB draft.
>> Kodey Shojinaga (Mid-Pacific), Kansas: Enjoyed the sixth four-hit game of his career in an 8-6 loss to Oklahoma in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament after banging out two hits in an 11-10 win over TCU. The Jayhawks were not selected to the NCAA Tournament, ending his season with a .335 batting average with 25 walks and 22 strikeouts. He is hitting .354 in the first 107 games of his college career.
SOFTBALL
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
>> Kennedy Kila (Mililani), Southern Oregon: Had hits in both of her pinch-hit appearances in the NAIA World Series, but the Raiders were eliminated after three contests. The Junior started the season as a pitcher, moved to first base and then became a pinch-hitter in the middle of April. She has three pinch hits in five chances since then and finished the campaign with a .385 batting average and 4.10 earned run average.
>> Kaiana Kong (Campbell), Western Washington: Pitched in five of the seven games of the NCAA Division II World Series, allowing six earned runs in 142⁄3 innings as the Vikings finished as the national runner-up to Texas-Tyler. Kong was named an NCAA All-America honorable mention before the final series and finished her freshman season 16-1 with 11 saves and an earned-run average of 1.39. Kanelehua Pitoy (Roosevelt) had hits in each of the last five games of the tournament, pairing hits in three of them. Joie Baker (Mililani) pitched in all three of the losses, giving up seven runs in five innings.
>> Puakea Milbourne (Kapolei), Oregon Tech: Collected 5-for-5 with a walk in the NAIA World Series entering loser’s bracket play on Tuesday. After a 4-2 win over Cumberlands, a 4-3 loss to Jessup ended Oregon Tech’s season. The sophomore was slashing .379/.435/.655 with 66 RBIs in 59 games this season entering Tuesday.
>> Tiani Wayton (Punahou), Linfield: Went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs in two victories over Central College of Iowa to help the Wildcats to the NCAA Division III World Series for the second straight season, beginning Thursday. Jenna Wong (Mid-Pacific) is also on the roster but has only played in two games this season after getting in 23 last year.
WOMEN’S GOLF
>> Alison Takamiya (Punahou), George Fox: Had one of the best rounds of her career to capture the NCAA Division III national championship, shooting a 70 in the final round to erase a three-shot deficit to Ellen Dong of Emory to win the tournament. The senior didn’t have a bogey until her final hole, but Dong missed an 8-foot bogey putt and doubled the 18th to give the Hawaii player the crown. The Bruins finished fourth overall but broke the tournament record for lowest single round score with a 287.