HHSAA softball: Konawaena wins defensive battle against Waialua; will face No. 1 seed

Konawaena’s softball team picked the perfect time for its first errorless game of the season.

Shyla Victor took advantage, pitching six strong innings Tuesday as the Wildcats defeated Waialua 6-2 in the opening round of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II tournament at Central Oahu Regional Park.

“The defense was the key,” coach Shellie Grace said.

For much of the season, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up Wildcats (9-5-1) masked inconsistent pitching and defense by hammering the ball at the plate.

Konawaena was outhit 9-5 by the Bulldogs of the Oahu Interscholastic Association. Grace said Victor might not throw as hard as some of her teammates, but she gave her team a boost in the circle and hit the corners in key situations.

“We’ve noticed teams have a harder time hitting a slower pitcher,” Grace said.

Victor didn’t register a strikeout, but she scattered eight hits and two walks in allowing only two runs.

Konawaena will face defending champion Nanakuli (15-0), the top-seeded OIA champ, in a 5 p.m. quarterfinal today.

The Wildcats broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the fifth. Dorian Anu Binney led off with the only hit of the inning and came around to score on Teizha Kaluna’s bases-loaded walk. Bethany Batangan scored on a passed ball and Kiersen Kawehi Kahele’s groundout brought home another run.

Batangan finished 2 for 2 with two runs scored and an RBI single in the sixth. Syleesia Jose drove in a run with a single in the third.

Kaluna worked a scoreless seventh as the Wildcats broke a lengthy losing streak in state openers.

“We expected it,” Grace said. “We told the girls what they needed to do and they executed.”

In another first-round game, McKinley defeated Kohala 12-1. The Cowgirls (5-9), the BIIF third-place team, will play a consolation game at 5 p.m. today.