The postgame senior day celebration for the Mililani Trojans was joyful, but the Leilehua Mules had their input before departing.
Leilehua’s senior ace, Kamryn Kamakaiwi, had the most to say with her arm and her bat. She fired a two-hit shutout, and blasted a home run and double as No. 2 Leilehua blanked 10th-ranked Mililani 11-0 in five innings at the Lady Trojans’ field on Tuesday afternoon.
The win lifted Leilehua to 9-3 in the OIA West, sharing first place with Campbell as the regular season closed. Technically, they are co-champions, but for seeding purposes, Campbell has the tiebreaker edge. The Sabers and Mules split their series, but Campbell fared better against common opponents in order from the top of the standings. Both teams have earned first-round byes in the playoffs.
Mililani (5-6) has already qualified for the playoffs as the fifth-place team in the West.
Kamakaiwi kept the home team off balance with a torrent of screwballs and curveballs.
“We’re not finished. Being No. 1 or not, that doesn’t matter,” said Kamakaiwi, who transferred from Maryknoll in the offseason. “It feels like home.”
Mules coach Wendell Au feels good about his team’s momentum.
“I’m blessed to have three pitchers. It’s all about matchups,” the first-year head coach said. “We just need to stay together and keep strong. We had some good plays off the bench. (Gwen) Maeha had a big hit with two outs.”
The visiting Mules finished with 12 hits and had a flawless defensive performance. Kamakaiwi struck out four and walked just one. Mililani’s hits were by Kayla Winchester and Beth Bello. The Lady Trojans host Pearl City on Thursday in a make-up game, then try their luck in the playoffs, where six OIA teams will qualify for the state tourney.
“It’s about who peaks at the right time,” Mililani coach Rose Antonio said. “We’ve had growing pains all year, dealt with injuries. We’ve talked about it with the kids. Those first two (playoff) games are the most important of the season.”
Leilehua scored three runs in the first inning and four in the second to seize control. In the first, Brandi Leong led off with a single and Gianna Araki walked to set up Kaena Nistal’s two-run double to right-center. After Kamakaiwi and Alyssa Ascunsion walked, Cheyenne Ardona replaced Joie Baker on the mound. Nistal scored from third base on a wild pitch for a 3-0 Mules’ lead.
In the second frame, Kayla Hale reached on a leadoff bunt single and Mikayla Pinera’s double to left brought Hale around the bases to score. Araki socked a run-scoring single to left, and with two outs, Kamakaiwi belted an opposite-field home run to left, opening Leilehua’s lead to 7-0.
In the third, Pinera reached base on a bad-hop grounder to shortstop. Araki then followed with a hard grounder to short that was muffed, allowing Hale to score.
Leilehua added two more runs in the fourth. Ascunsion and Maeha, the pinch hitter, singled. Ascension later scored on an error and Leong’s single to left scored Maeha from third.
The Mules’ final run came in the top of the fifth. Kamakaiwi doubled to right and scored on a double to left by Ascunsion.