Li‘i Brown parked a two-run home run on the roof of the school library and Tasi Taufahema pitched a flawless seventh inning for a save as No. 7 Punahou stunned No. 1 Maryknoll 5-4 on a windy Tuesday afternoon at Punahou.
“We were just fired up. We knew the competition with Maryknoll was going to be hard, especially with the game that we just went through with them that went into extra innings,” said Brown, a junior third baseman. “That definitely fired us up to want it more, to keep the momentum up. If we make a mistake, we’ve got to get right back at it because the game’s not over yet.”
Maryknoll edged Punahou 7-6 in eight innings on March 16.
Punahou improved to 3-2 in ILH softball, while Maryknoll dropped to 4-2. It was a crucial victory for the Buffanblu in the chase for an automatic state-tournament berth. The league has a three-round-robin format in the regular season for the berth, one of two allotted by the HHSAA.
“These are the kind of games that make us better,” Buffanblu coach Dave Eldredge said. “It builds us up as a team and allows us to understand that we can win the close ones.”
On the same day the Spartans arrived at No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Softball Top 10, they walked across the road to the mauka side of Wilder Avenue for a battle with Punahou. Junior pitcher Paige Brunn gave the home team six outstanding innings before running into trouble in the top of the seventh. She scattered six hits, struck out two, walked three and allowed three earned runs.
“Their pitcher kept us at bay, there’s no doubt. One of the better games she’s thrown. As the innings went on, she grew more and more confident, which pressed us a little bit more,” Maryknoll coach John Uekawa said.
Brunn has been happy to carry a heavy load.
“I was very proud and I’m glad Tasi came in. She shut them down,” Brunn said. “Nice mix of pitches. It was good.”
In the top of the seventh inning, the visitors got an opposite-field leadoff single from Ciana Kamisato. After freshman Reyni Hiraoka walked, Jenna Sniffen stepped into the batter’s box with Maryknoll trailing 5-1. The two-time All-State selection belted a three-run home run that, like Brown’s blast, landed on the roof of the Punahou library.
After racking up 13 innings in the pitcher’s circle in a 24-hour span, Brunn was replaced by Taufahema. The effectiveness of her fastball and changeup was clutch. The senior struck out Kasi Cruz, then retired Palehua Silva on a ground ball and Sheyzhelle Iokia on a pop-up to end the game.
“I’m proud of my team. I was glad I was able to help them out,” said Taufahema, a senior designated player who got her warmups in since she wasn’t on the field. “My changeup can throw them off.”
Just one day earlier, Punahou outslugged ‘Iolani 23-15. On Thursday, the Buffanblu host Kamehameha, and on Saturday it’s a rematch with ‘Iolani.
“Yesterday (Monday) against Iolani, our pitchers didn’t do well, but today they had a different mindset. They came into the game focused and ready. When the ball was given to them, they both stepped up and did a great job,” Eldredge said.
Maryknoll had just beaten then-No. 1 Kamehameha 7-3 on Saturday.
“Sometimes it’s really tough to win a big, big game against Kamehameha, and come back and have that full force again. I told them, definitely, I’d rather lose now than going into the stretch run,” Uekawa said. “Kudos to Punahou.They played great. They played yesterday and they had four games in eight days.”
Punahou took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning with the gift of three Maryknoll errors. Shayla Yamashita led off with a single and advanced to second base when Brown’s grounder to shortstop was mishandled. An infield throw to first base was dropped on Sydney Capello’s sacrifice bunt, loading the bases. Another drop at first base on a ground ball off the bat of Taimane Mata‘afa-Alferos allowed Yamashita to score.
Maryknoll tied it in the top of the third inning. Kamisato socked a one-out double to left, advanced to third base on a single by Hiraoka, and scored on a two-out single by Cruz to tie the game at 1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Punahou regained the lead with two runs. Brown reached base on a dropped pop fly and moved up to third base on a single by Austen Kinney. Brown slid home with the go-ahead run, as the ball squirted loose from Maryknoll’s catcher Silva on a throw home from Iokia, the shortstop, on a fielder’s choice ground ball by Mata‘afa-Alfredos.
After Taryn Ho singled to load the bases, Kahiau Aina singled to left, plating Kinney for a 3-1 Punahou advantage.
In the fifth, Shayla Yamashita led off with a double and Brown walloped a 2-1 fastball high over the left field fence, parking it on the library roof for a four-run Buffanblu cushion.
“I’m sure the ball will come down some time soon,” Brown said. “The construction workers will find it.”
In all, the Buffanblu had eight hits against Maryknoll ace Molly Davi, who permitted two earned runs and eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
“She has this thing with her head and it kind of throws off people,” Brown said of Davi’s head nod.
The right-hander also releases the ball near her rib cage with stellar control
“Pitchers usually throw it fully. I just watch the ball and wait for it,” Brown said. “I felt (the pitch) hit my sweet spot and I knew.”
Maryknoll will play at ‘Iolani on Thursday, then at Mid-Pacific on Saturday.
At Punahou
Maryknoll (4-2) 001 000 3 — 4 6 4
Punahou (3-2) 010 220 x — 5 8 0
Paige Brunn, Tasi Taufahema (7) and Lexi Hirahara. Molly Davi and Palehua Silva. W—Brunn. L—Davi. Sv—Taufahema.
Leading hitters—MS: Reyni Hiraoka 2-2, run, 2 walks; Jenna Sniffen 1-4, HR, 3 RBIs, run; Kasi Cruz 1-4, RBI; Silva 1-3, double, walk; Ciana Kamisato 2-3, double, 2 runs. Pun: Taryn Ho 1-3, walk; Kahiau Aina 2-3, double, RBI; Shayla Yamashita 2-3, double, 2 runs; Li‘i Brown 1-3, HR, 2 RBIs, run; Sydney Capello 1-3.
