With the Big Island Interscholastic Federation softball season winding down, Kealakehe coach Wesley Takimoto gave his team a simple message on Wednesday: It’s crunch time.
With the Big Island Interscholastic Federation softball season winding down, Kealakehe coach Wesley Takimoto gave his team a simple message on Wednesday: It’s crunch time.
If the Waveriders want to earn their third consecutive Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I state tournament berth, Takimoto told his players, they need to be playing their best softball now.
On Thursday at Kealakehe, Takimoto saw the kind of pitching and hitting needed to succeed in the postseason from his team.
Nicole Rivera capped a seven-run fourth inning with a grand slam, Brooke Rivera and Summer McEntee also homered in the inning, and McEntee scattered seven hits over 6 2/3 innings as Kealakehe defeated Honokaa 10-6.
“We got motivated and really set our goals for states,” McEntee said of the team’s practice on Wednesday.
McEntee began the regular season in impressive fashion, throwing a six-hit shutout against Kohala in the team’s season opener and pitching another complete game in a 7-2 road win over Konawaena on March 16. But the senior, bothered by the flu, hadn’t started a game in the circle for the Waveriders (5-3) since then.
McEntee didn’t show any signs of rust against the Dragons (4-4), displaying pinpoint control and running pitches in on the hands of Honokaa batters. She struck out six batters and walked just one, and three of the four runs she allowed were unearned.
Freshman Kelina Palmer-Kahananui relieved McEntee with two on and nobody out in the seventh and struck out a batter before McEntee returned to the circle and recorded the final two outs.
“I came out here ready to go,” McEntee said.
McEntee got all the run support she needed in the bottom of the fourth inning. On a 2-0 pitch from Honokaa’s Jasmine Castro, Brooke Rivera hit a fly ball down the left-field line and cruised into second with what she thought was a leadoff double.
However, the home-plate umpire ruled the hit a foul ball, and Rivera admitted being irritated by the call and taking her frustration out on the next pitch, which she lined well over left fielder Shereena Bird’s head for a home run and a 3-0 Kealakehe lead.
“They took (the hit) away, so I brought it back,” said Rivera, who also doubled in the game.
Ketura Mattos followed with a single, and McEntee then made it 5-0 by hammering a pitch over right fielder Tisha Sugse’s head in right.
After seeing her teammates blast home runs, especially sister Brooke, Nicole Rivera wanted in on the fun.
“I saw her hit one, so I’m like, ‘It’s my turn now,’” Nicole Rivera said.
Her turn came after Castro walked Ashley Isisaki, hit Kaleanani Anakelea-Haleamau with a pitch and walked Palmer-Kahananui. Nicole Rivera then pounded the ball inside the left-field line, where it bounced past Bird and rolled behind her for a grand slam.
After the game, Takimoto praised his players for consistently hitting line drives.
The first three hitters in the Waveriders’ lineup — Brooke Rivera, Mattos and McEntee — all finished 2-for-3.
“I finally saw the hitting I thought we had,” Takimoto said.
The Dragons’ offense came alive late in the top of the seventh inning, collecting two hits off McEntee and two more off Palmer-Kahananui to score four times and make the final score respectable.
Sophomore Hailey Paglinawan singled and scored on a triple by senior Kawehi Bell-Kaaekuahiwi, and Sugse contributed an RBI groundout.
Sugse, who also drove in a run with an RBI single in the sixth, finished 2-for-4, while sophomore Kaitlin Agustin went 2-for-3.
The Waveriders’ defense contributed to the Dragons’ scoring output, committing five errors in the final two innings.
“In the beginning, they were so afraid of (McEntee),” Honokaa coach Wesley Fujimoto said. “After a while, they started to get comfortable.”
Castro suffered the loss for Honokaa, allowing nine runs on seven hits in four innings. She walked eight and struck out none. In the following two innings, Paglinawan limited the Waveriders to a run on two hits, striking out two and walking one.
“We started (hitting) too late, but the girls didn’t give up,” Fujimoto said.
Honokaa 000 002 4 — 6 9 1
Kealakehe 020 701 x — 10 9 7
c Kohala 12, Konawaena 2: The Cowgirls took advantage of three Konawaena errors in the first inning to take a commanding 5-0 lead at Kamehameha Park in a game that ended after six innings because of the league’s 10-run mercy rule.
Freshman Denae Rivera and junior Sheana Cazimero collected three hits apiece, while senior Chyler Imai and junior Tiani Luga each had two hits. All four players drove in a run for Kohala, which improved to 5-3.
In the circle, Imai earned the win with a complete game, allowing two runs on five hits. She struck out three and walked three.
Freshman Jashea Leleiwi, who pitched the first 2 1/3 innings, suffered the loss for the Wildcats (3-5). She gave up five hits and two walks while striking out one.
Konawaena’s Kaua Mitchell ended Imai’s bid for a shutout in the fifth inning, coming through with a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded.
Mitchell finished 2-for-3, while Amanda Varron was 3-for-3.
Konawaena 000 020 — 2 5 6
Kohala 503 211 — 12 12 0