Sometime in September, while the Oklahoma Sooners were again reeling in several of the top softball prospects in the nation, the unexpected drew closer to Joe and Cassandra Mailo.

Not only would their only daughter, Ori, commit to play for Oklahoma, but she would decide to graduate early and depart by January 2026. Long before her classmates and teammates walk the line with their caps and gowns, Ori will be boarding the plane.

The Mililani third baseman has longed to get her collegiate career started. She grew up playing the game in older age groups. Many of her peers have gone off to college in the past two years.

She is ready.

“I asked her. We pick her brains,” Cassandra Mailo said. “We’re not pushing her to go early. If she wants to do it, we’ll back her 100%.”

Joe Mailo is fully involved and informed. One of the Sooners’ recruits from the class of 2025 enrolled early, in January, and now the trend is forming with the ’26 class.

“Our understanding is to treat it as a redshirt year, and if she proves she can break into the lineup, they’ll roster her,” he said. “It’s an extra six months to get a jump start on schooling and training. We never felt like she would miss much by leaving early. She said she had her fix of proms.”

Early enrollment in college is a route taken by a growing number of island football players, including Campbell quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (Cal), last season’s state Offensive Player of the Year. Kamehameha’s volleyball POY, Kainoa Wade, did the same in his senior year before enrolling at UH.

Decisions are made. Life speeds up. This chapter ends in 10 months and a new one begins. Someone will be the first to break at the airport when Ori walks through TSA and heads to her gate.

“It won’t be me,” mom said. “Dad will cry.”

There is standard power, then there is Jerrell Oriana Mailo power.

No. 1 Mililani has a devastating attack, averaging 14.5 runs and 13 hits per game. A career .545 hitter, Mailo is beyond anyone Rose Antonio has coached.

“Ori is probably stronger than Mama (Rivera, former Mililani slugger). More consistent with her hitting,” Antonio said.

The Trojans’ lineup is stacked. Leadoff hitter Kahiau Aina has home run power. From Kamryn Aoki to Mailo to Makanalei Watkins-Villegas to ace pitcher/power hitter Hinano Bautista, the top half of Antonio’s lineup is a murderer’s row, and the back half has been no slouch.

Defending state champion Mililani (17-0-1, 4-0 OIA) is in empire mode. It’s not just Mailo, but her presence sets a high bar, a standard matched by few.

“I’m really proud of my team, but I do feel we have a ways to go. I just have high expectations and standards,” she said. “Hinano is a really good pitcher. Taylor (Adriano) and Maya (Jelf) are strong pitchers. Our team is really an upbeat team this year. A really young team. We lost a lot of seniors and we have a lot of underclassmen stepping up. We have only three players that played last year (on varsity). It’s kind of new, seeing new people at different positions.”

The shift of power in many sports from the ILH to the OIA, particularly the West, is stoked by economics. Rising tuition costs, the daily rigor of long drives to private schools and the lure of staying home and playing with childhood teammates. ILH programs knew about Ori Mailo, but she is another example of the ultimate path through public schooling.

“Some (ILH) schools asked us to apply. I took the tests and did interviews. It was just a money thing,” Mailo said. “I feel like kids who go to public schools appreciate it more, not that private school kids don’t, but we’re the bottom of the barrel and we have more to prove.”

From day one, she surprised her parents.

“My older boy was 6 pounds (at birth) and she came out at 8.5,” Joe Mailo recalled. “She was walking pretty fast, around nine months. She was active, following her brother around.”

All the hours and months and years of reps, all for a youngster who embraced the sport as an 8-year-old and never let go.

“We thought she was going to be a volleyball player,” said Cassandra, who played the sport in high school.

There’s the slightest tone, unintentionally, of disappointment in her voice. It’s only natural.

“I’m over it because now she’s committed to Oklahoma. We did our job. She put in a lot of hard work,” mom said.

Eye-hand coordination. Natural strength. Boomer Sooner, it was destiny.

“We were going the route of her mom, who played volleyball,” Joe Mailo said. “It was her teacher, my co-worker (Ku‘ulei Peterson), she bugged us to try her out for tee ball and softball. She was hitting hard. They did coach-pitch with her early. She was hitting it farther than the boys.”

The years of youth softball — she also played flag football — were a passion for Ori.

“The big part was seeing her train with her brother (Ben) at their uncle Mike (Ioane)’s house. He trains kids for free,” Cassandra Mailo said.

Volleyball never happened. Destiny prevailed.

“She was tall for her age, the tallest in her class. It worked out the best for us, but in terms of volleyball, she only ended up 5-4. It was almost a blessing in disguise,” Joe Mailo said.

Mailo began her prep career with a scintillating freshman year at Waianae. Playing first base, she batted .472 with five home runs and 18 RBIs. She also had 21 runs scored and a .792 slugging average.

At the state tournament, Mailo hit .545 (6-for-11) with three RBIs and two runs scored in three games as Waianae reached the semifinal round. She was voted to the 2023 Star-Advertiser All-State second team.

“She was the one who was hitting home runs for them,” Antonio recalled. “Waianae had a really good team with Jerzie (Liana) and Moani (Ioane).”

It was an epic season for Seariders softball. Homegrown, roots effort. With Liana and Ioane off to college (Cal State Northridge), the winds shifted.

“Ori playing up (in age division) her whole softball career, her real peers are Nelly (McEnroe-Marinas), Jerzie, Moani. When they graduated, it was like she was left alone, almost,” Joe Mailo said.

Then 2023 became a year of change for Ori and brother Ben as the two transferred to Mililani, where Ben played offensive line.

In the spring of ’24, Mailo was at the hot corner as the Trojans’ third baseman and racked up big numbers again. She led the team in hits, batting .545 in the regular season and state tourney. Mailo socked eight homers, drove in 32 runs and scored 26 times. She finished with a slugging average of 1.091 and an on-base percentage of .621.

She delivered massively again at states, hitting .545 with five RBIs and four runs scored as Mililani captured its first state title since 2014.

Mailo finished on the All-State second team just behind Maryknoll third baseman Jenna Sniffen.

In the summer, Mailo was busy with her club team, LK Black, and piled up 17 home runs. She was rated the 40th-best player in the class of 2026 by Softball America.

On Sept. 30, 2024, Mailo committed to Oklahoma and coach Patty Gasso. She follows a line of elite Hawaii players to Norman. Former Kahuku and Campbell slugger Jocelyn Alo became a household name and home run record-breaker, swatting 122 in 267 games. Alo plays for the Oklahoma City Spark and Athletes Unlimited.

Alo was still in high school when the Mailo ohana met her. They took a selfie.

“My first time meeting her was at CORP (Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park). My dad saw her and called me. I asked for a picture,” Mailo recalled. “I love her confidence as a player. She wouldn’t let the pitcher intimidate her. That’s what I look to her for the most.”

Joe Mailo takes pride in seeing island families work together and make the sacrifices for opportunities.

“It’s unreal seeing Hawaii girls doing their thing across the country and doing it right. We saw Jocelyn and we just hoped. All these girls working at the park with their moms and dads and brothers, it’s possible for anybody,” he said.

McEnroe-Marinas, a former Maryknoll shortstop, is in her freshman year, starting at third base for the Lady Sooners.

Another former player of the year, Ailana Agbayani of ‘Iolani, transferred from BYU to Oklahoma this year. The junior is starting at second base.

In her decades of coaching high school softball, Antonio hadn’t seen any player graduate early. It took a moment to digest a new reality: This is Mailo’s final season of high school softball.

“I was surprised. I’ve only seen it in football,” Antonio said. “I’m all for whatever’s going to help the student-athlete. It is good to have choices. Whatever happened with COVID-19, you never take things for granted. You always make the most of your opportunities.”

Softball is a big part of Mailo’s future, but there is more. She plans to major in pharmacology.

“The person who got me into the medical side is my brother (Ben). He’s studying pre-med right now. My original route was to become a coach, but he said I could take things more seriously,” she said.

Antonio isn’t surprised by Mailo’s plan. Mailo has a 3.9 grade-point average.

“Academically, she’s really smart,” Antonio said. “I’ll joke with her. ‘You’re going to distribute drugs legally?’ The future is bright for her. I tell our players when you guys come back (from college), you have to take care of your parents because they sacrifice so much for you.”

Maintaining the life as a scholar-athlete isn’t enough for Mailo. Last year, she joined the track and field team. In the shot put, she placed fourth at the state championships. She’s back at it this year, squeezing in one to two workouts per week with the shot put and discus.

Saturday was a classic Ori Mailo experience.

>> 6:50 a.m. Awakened by the phone alarm. A breakfast of cheese tots and a corn dog.

>> 7:30 a.m. Arrival at Kapolei’s softball field.

>> 10 a.m. Game time. Mililani outslugs Kapolei 14-9.

>> 1:15 p.m. Bus ride to Mililani, changing into track gear on the bus. Sprint to the stadium.

>> 1:20 p.m. Ori puts the shot at more than 35 feet. Eats an ice pop.

>> 4 p.m. She throws the discus 96 feet, close to her personal record.

Her PR in the shot put is 38 feet.

“I was disappointed,” Mailo said. “But track and field, it’s fun making new friends from other schools. Just being able to compete in states and see how far I can get.”