HONOKAA — Kawehi Bell-Kaaekuahiwi admits the Honokaa softball team had its share of blunders during a 1-3 start to the season.
HONOKAA — Kawehi Bell-Kaaekuahiwi admits the Honokaa softball team had its share of blunders during a 1-3 start to the season.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday against Kohala.
“We had our heads on today and had each others’ backs,” the senior said.
In learning from those earlier mistakes, the Dragons taught Kohala a valuable lesson: There’s just not much margin for error in the tight West Division.
Bell-Kaaekuahiwi was 2-for-4 with three RBIs on Tuesday and Honokaa took advantage of nine Cowgirls errors for a 13-10 victory in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation game.
Kohala committed seven of those miscues during the first three innings as the Dragons opened up a 10-2 lead and held on for their third straight win to tie the Cowgirls atop the Division II standings at 4-3. Honokaa also made up for a 14-2 TKO loss earlier in the season in Kapaau. The rubber game is April 17 at Kohala.
“The first game I guess we took them for granted and they ended up smoking us. You have to play every team hard,” said Bell-Kaaekuahiwi, who had a two-run single in the second to give Honokaa a 4-2 lead it would never relinquish. “We got confident and motivated from (the first loss) because we know we can play hard. We just take what we can get and don’t take anything for granted now.”
Tisha Sugse and Kayla Requelman were also 2-for-4 and Allie Shiraki was 2-for-5 as the Dragons pounded out 12 hits against Kohala’s Chyler Imai. Jasmine Castro added two RBIs.
Honokaa was often rewarded for contact early on — all 10 runs during the first three innings were unearned.
Sugse’s two-run single highlighted Honokaa’s six-run third inning. Requelman added a run-scoring hit in the third and she tripled and scored in the fourth for a Honokaa team that finished BIIF-runner-up last season to reach the Hawaii High School Athletic Association tournament.
“We want to work hard so we can travel again (to Oahu) this year,” said Bell-Kaaekuahiwi, who helped Honokaa turn one of its two double plays when she caught a runner straying off third in the fifth. “We have to buckle down and remain confident.”
Honokaa coach Wesley Fujimoto noted that the win was important because only three of the four Division teams in the West Division will qualify for the playoffs. Hawaii Prep is 3-5, and Konawaena is 3-4.
“We’re slowly coming around and slowly getting better,” he said. “The less mistakes you make, that’s the team that is going to win. That’s what really counts, because everybody is just about equal.”
The Cowgirls put the leadoff runner on base in every inning but the seventh, and made things interesting by scoring four times in the sixth — capped by Imai’s two-run single off reliever Hailey Paglinawan — to get within 11-10.
Paglinawan, who came in after starter Kayla Kalauli loaded the bases with one out, nailed down the save. In the bottom of sixth, she added a run-scoring hit.
Imai and Tiani Luga were both 2 for 3 and Sheana Cazimero was 2 for 4 with a run-scoring hit during Kohala’s three-run fourth. Denae Rivera drove in three runs, ripping a two-run single in the first.
In addition to stranding nine runners, Kohala coach Terrence Alcoran said his team’s 11 hits weren’t enough because Tuesday was the worst he’s seen his team play in the field.
“Too many mistakes,” he said. “Every (West) team is kind of even, but we were terrible today. Chyler pitched good, but we have to make plays.”
Imai struck out six in six innings, yielding three earned runs, four hit batters and a walk.
Kalauli limited the damage in the fourth by striking out Rivera with the bases loaded. She fanned two in 5 1/3 innings to pick up the victory, allowing eight hits, nine walks and nine runs — eight earned.
After catching for the five-plus innings, Paglinawan allowed a run and three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.
“Difficult to go from catching to pitching and it sometimes takes me an inning to locate my pitches,” she said. “But you have to really want it to go to states. That’s what we’ve talked about.”
Kohala 200 314 0 — 10 11 9
Honokaa 226 102 x — 13 12 3
c Waiakea 17, Ka‘u 7: Skyler Agrigado had a batting performance to remember, going 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs to boost the Warriors (7-1), who remained atop the East Hawaii Division I standings.
Agrigado cracked a three-run homer in the second and a two-run blast in the fifth. She also had a sacrifice fly in the sixth and finished with six RBIs. Anela Granito-Wallace went 4-for-5 with two RBIs, including a solo homer. Alexis Anzai was 3-for-3.
Anzai went three innings for the win, allowing six runs on four hits. She walked four and struck out three.
Granito-Wallace pitched three innings for the save, yielding a run on five hits and one walk. She struck out two.
The game ended in the bottom of the sixth because of the league’s 10-run mercy rule.
Shaylin Navarro took the loss. Kama Fujikawa had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Trojans (1-7).
Waiakea, the five-time BIIF defending champion, meets its top two challengers this week, playing on the road against Hilo on Thursday and Keaau on Saturday.
Ka‘u 000 421 — 7 9 5
Waiakea 061 334 — 17 13 0
c Hilo 10, Pahoa 5: Ashlyn Kaneshiro fired a five-hitter, walking four and striking out five as the visiting Vikings (7-2) remained in a second-place tie with Keaau in the East Hawaii Division I standings.
Fantacie Keahilihau-Kuamoo belted a two-run double to lead Hilo.
Randi Berinobis allowed seven hits and four walks, striking out one while taking the loss for the Daggers (2-8).
Hilo 413 011 — 10 7 1
Pahoa 002 012 — 5 5 7
c Keaau 7, Kamehameha-Hawaii 5: Chelsey Pacatang-Hirai pitched twice in a combined five-hitter to help the Cougars improve to 7-2. She was pulled for reliever Momi Cariaga, who walked six and struck out two, in the fifth. Then Pacatang-Hirai re-entered and finished for the win, walking one and striking out three.
Samantha Simmons went the distance in the loss for the Warriors (3-7). Kiani Wong went 2-for-4.