Campbell edged Baldwin 7-6 and Maryknoll blanked Waiakea 13-0 in five innings to start today’s semifinal action.
I’m here covering the back half of the quarterfinals, starting with OIA champion Mililani against OIA West rival Kapolei.
Mililani vs. Kapolei
FINAL: Mililani 10, Kapolei 9
First inning
KPO: Aubree Kim is, as usual, the starting pitcher for the Lady Trojans. She sets the Hurricanes down in order to start the contest.
MIL: The Lady Trojans take advantage of two Kapolei errors to punch in two runs. Maya Yoshiura and Kylie-ann Bello had one-out singles, and Kristen Ishii followed with a single to left, scoring Yoshiura. The ball was botched by the LF as she was on the move toward the line, but it looked like the runner (Yoshiura) would’ve scored anyway.
Mama Rivera sent a ground ball to short, where the SS stepped on the second-base bag for a force out, then threw high to first for another error. That allowed Bello to score from second. Tristan Cozo followed with a walk, but Sadie Kapaku-You struck out Brooke Yasuda for the third out. MIL 2, KPO 0.
Second inning
KPO: Kim hits the leadoff batter, Sala Pedebone, but gets the next three batters, including two by strikeout.
MIL: Shannon Pascua-Stanton led off with a single to center and made it to third base with two outs, but Kapaku-You got Maya Yoshiura to ground out for the third out.
Third inning
KPO: The Hurricanes took the lead with a four-runb inning. Kamrynmae Kanae singled and later scored on a wild pitch as Kim, who had struck out three batters in a row from the second inning to the third, began to struggle. Makana Meyers reached base on a double to left that bounced off the glove of a hustling LF in the left-center alley. Shaycelynn Ho‘ohuli then sent a fly ball to left that was dropped — LF rushed it — and Meyers scored from third. The error didn’t affect Meyers, who would’ve scored anyway, but it allowed Ho‘ohuli to reach base.
That proved big two batters later when Sala Pedebone crushed a two-run homer way over the left-field fence. KPO 4, MIL 2.
MIL: The Lady Trojans score twice to tie the game. Kylie-ann Bello reaches on an infield single and Ishii gets on when she beats out her sac bunt attempt. Nicely-place bunt on the first-base side of home plate. Rivera then sends a tricky chopper that gets over the 3B, scoring Bello from second. That cuts the lead to one run.
With one out, Brooke Yasuda lays down another great Mililani bunt. She beats it out by a half-step at first, and Ishii races home from third on the safety squeeze to tie the game at 4. Kapaku-You gets out of trouble with two runners on base, getting Pascua-Stanton and Okamamoto to ground out. MIL 4, KPO 4.
Fourth inning
KPO: Huge inning for the ‘Canes, who score five times, buoyed by Kapaku-You’s grand slam. Kim walked Prestyne Kaimi-Montira and Raina McKeen, then Kanae singled to load the bases. Makana Meyers drew a walk, forcing home Kaimi-Montira from third for a 5-4 lead.
With two outs, on a 1-0 pitch, Kapaku-You blasted a Kim pitch high above the left-field fence, scoring McKeen, Kanae and Meyers in front of herself. KPO 9, MIL 4.
MIL: Kapaku-You pitching with authority, sets the Lady Trojans down in order.
Fifth inning
KPO: Kim sets the top third of Kapolei’s lineup down in order.
MIL: The Lady Trojans push a run across, but miss a chance to get more. Yasuda’s single to left scores Ishii, who led off with a single, home from second. Kapaku-You gets two fielder’s choice grounders to end the threat. KPO 9, MIL 5.
Sixth inning
KPO: Kanae leads off with a single to left and goes to second when the LF’s throw goes high. But that’s it. Kim retires the next three batters.
MIL: The Lady Trojans score two runs, benefiting from three errors after there were two outs. Rivera delivers a two-run single up the middle to cut the lead in half. KPO 9, MIL 7.
Seventh inning
KPO: Mililani commits an error, but Kapolei can’t get the runner into scoring position.
MIL: Pascua-Stanton battles back from a 1-2 count, gets it to 3-2, then lines a single to left to start the inning. Markie Okamoto then walks on four pitches. Keri Togami then bunts foul twice, fouls off seven more pitches, then socks a 1-2 pitch to left for a double. That scores courtesy runner Gabby Langsi from second base to make it 9-8.
Then more bizarro work on the field. Yoshiura lines out to left, but the LF’s throw to second sails high, allowing courtesy runner Misha Carreira to reach third. On the same play, a throw home by the first baseman misses the mark, and Carreira races home with a gift run to tie it at 9.
The next batter, Bello, sends the first pitch deep to the opposite field (left) and off the wall, and Togami scores from second with the game-winning run. MIL 10, KPO 9.
Ten runs, 15 hits, three errors for Mililani. Nine runs, seven hits, seven errors by Kapolei. Whew.
The defending state champion Lady Trojans survive and will face Maryknoll on Friday.
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