Chelsea Lobitos couldn’t recall the last time she hit a grand slam. And after she missed stepping on home plate, her hit wouldn’t have gone down as a home run.
But Lobitos returned to touch home, and her bases-clearing hit helped Leilehua beat host Moanalua 6-3 in the first round of the OIA softball playoffs on Tuesday. The Mules (5-8), the fifth seed out of the West, play at West No. 1 Campbell (11-1) in Wednesday’s 3 p.m. quarterfinal. All quarterfinal winners will earn a state tournament berth.
"I get some home runs, but I don’t hit grand slams," Lobitos said. "It felt great, especially since they said I missed the plate and had to go back. I felt proud because it’s one step closer to states."
Lobitos’ big swing complemented the performance by pitcher Chasity Stalcup. She scattered seven hits, struck out five and allowed no walks to earn the win.
"Really just trying to keep the ball down and hit my spots," Stalcup said. "Moanalua is a good hitting team and I didn’t want to get rocked today."
The Mules broke through in the top of the fourth inning. Gwen Maeha’s RBI single made it 1-0, part of three successive singles to allow Leilehua to load the bases. With one out, Lobitos’ hit got by Moanalua’s outfielders and kept rolling as the Mules rounded the bases. Moanalua almost got Lobitos out at home after she didn’t step on home plate. As her coaches yelled at her to return, Lobitos made contact with the plate right before the tag.
"We were determined to score, get on base, hit the ball and do our best," Stalcup said.
Leilehua also adjusted to Moanalua pitcher Kyler Tsukada. The Mules stopped chasing pitches they didn’t want.
"She had a lot of rise balls and the rise balls kept us off," Lobitos said. "We swung at some really bad pitches."
Moanalua scored two runs off Leilehua errors in the bottom of the fourth. Na Menehune cut the deficit to 5-3 after Kylie Kawelo’s RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Moanalua got a pair of infield singles to put runners at the corners. Shanelle Lum then chopped the ball at Stalcup, who jumped up for the grab and threw to first to end the inning.
"We came back together as a team instead of individuals," said Moanalua catcher Makamae Kaleikini. "We came back strong, I’m proud of our team."
Maeha drove in Mahealani Calizo to extend the lead to 6-3 in the top of the seventh. Stalcup gave up a single to lead off the bottom of the seventh, then retired the next three batters to end the game.
Kaleikini knew her young squad with just two seniors would do well this season. But the conclusion came prematurely as Moanalua, the East’s fourth seed, ends the season at 7-6.
"I believe we could’ve made it further," Kaleikini said.
At Moanalua
| Leilehua |
000 |
500 |
1 |
— |
6 |
9 |
4 |
| Moanalua |
000 |
201 |
0 |
— |
3 |
7 |
1 |
Chasity Stalcup and Staisa Micky. Kyler Tsukada, Jordan Snow (5) and Makamae Kaleikini. W–Stalcup. L–Tsukada.
Leading hitters–Lei: Rickelle Ladao 3-4, 2b; Mahealani Calizo 2-3; Chelsea Lobitos grand slam, 4 RBIs; Gwen Maeha 2 RBIs. Moan: Snow 2-2, 2b; Iyana Reed 2-3.
OIA DIVISION I PLAYOFFS
Kapolei 10, Roosevelt 0, 5 inn.
Dallas Pollard Brownell had two hits, including a double, as the Hurricanes defeated the Rough Riders in five innings.
Kapolei moves on to take on Kaiser today.
At Kapolei
| Roosevelt |
000 |
00 |
— |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Kapolei |
420 |
22 |
— |
10 |
8 |
0 |
Mari Foster and Destiny Holani. Sadie Kapaku-You and Lili Kaimi.
W–Kapaku-You. L–Foster.
Leading hitters–Kapolei: Dallas Pollard-Brownell 2-3, 2b, run, RBI; Makana Meyers 2b, 3 runs, RBI; Laugatausala Pedebone 2b, 4 RBIs.
Castle 4, Waipahu 1
Ariel Hendricks hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to lead the Knights past the Marauders.
Castle advances to face Mililani today in the quarterfinals.
At Castle
| Waipahu |
000 |
001 |
0 |
— |
1 |
8 |
2 |
| Castle |
100 |
012 |
x |
— |
4 |
6 |
0 |
Shevan DeFreitas and Shandell Palencia. Asia Igafo and Taylor Ah-Mook Sang.
W–Igafo. L–DeFreitas.
Leading hitters–Waipahu: A. Lene 2-3. Castle: Paige Matsuki 2-3; Ah-Mook Sang 2-3; Ariel Hendricks 2-3, HR, 2 RBIs.
Pearl City 25, McKinley 0, 4 inn.
Kristin Frost pitched a no-hitter, striking out seven, as the Chargers routed the Tigers.
Pearl City will play Kailua today.
At Pearl City
| McKinley |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Pearl City |
6(13)4 |
2 |
— |
25 |
17 |
0 |
Pamela Espinda, Jillian Cristobal (2) and Majorlyn McMillan. Kristin Frost and Hope Casarez, Hailey-Alexis Yamaguchi (3).
W–Frost. L–Espinda.
Leading hitters–Pearl City: Casarez 3-3, 2 2bs; Noel Saunders 2-2, 2b, 3b; Taylyn Kimura 3-4; Yamaguchi 2-3; Tyanna Kaaialii 2-2, HR.
