LIHU’E — As Tiana Laranio’s day finally drew to a close, Kapa’a head coach Radford Samfong handed the player a bag of ice for her right shoulder, patted her on the back and delivered a few words of encouragement. It
LIHU’E — As Tiana Laranio’s day finally drew to a close, Kapa’a head
coach Radford Samfong handed the player a bag of ice for her right shoulder,
patted her on the back and delivered a few words of encouragement.
It was
the least he could do, considering what his pitcher had just done for
him.
On a virtually cloud-free day at Isenberg Field, Laranio directed the
Warriors to a doubleheader sweep of Kaua’i. The junior struck out nine Red
Raiders to give Kapa’a a 6-0 victory in the opener. Then, on in relief of
Cherisse Labuguen, Laranio struck out three more and got herself out of a jam
in the fifth to deliver a 4-3 eight-inning win.
“She’s always going to come
through for us,” Samfong said of his number one pitcher. “It’s very good to
have her.”
Her victory in the second half of the doubleheader did not come
without a fight. Kapa’a (2-1, Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation) took a 3-2
lead into the bottom of the seventh — and final — inning.
But Laranio
gave up a walk to Kaua’i’s Sarah Yashikawa and an infield single to Brittan
Amii to put runners at first and second. The Raiders’ Liza Gebaver laid down a
sacrifice bunt to move the runners. Tyrene Kaluahine then slapped a fastball
back to Laranio. The pitcher held the runner at third for a moment, then went
to first to get the certain out. Yashikawa came home to tie the game
3-3.
The inning ended with the next batter, forcing the contest into extra
innings. Kapa’a put runners at the corners in the top of the eighth for
Kasandra Wong. She also delivered with a dribbler to the shortstop, giving the
Warriors the lead for good. The catcher already had a sixth-inning RBI triple
to her credit.
“It always such a good feeling to get that first win,”
Samfong said. “It made a big difference to us to be playing in the
sun.”
The coach was making reference to his team’s 6-1 loss Wednesday to
Waimea in a driving rain storm.
“I think it will be different when we play
them next week,” Samfong said.
As for the Red Raiders (0-2, KIF), head
coach Penny Vess said her team “was not really affected,” by the Warriors’
pitching, and would have fared better if not “for so many errors.”
“I tell
these girls they’re human, and it’s human to make errors,” Vess said. “But once
we get on the same page and get a strong start, we’ll be in good
shape.”
The Raiders committed four errors in Game 2; the Warriors,
three.
Despite a solid outing of her own, Kaua’i’s Cecilia Quibilan picked
up the loss in the second game.
For Kapa’a, the highlight of its afternoon
might have been the effectiveness with which it laid down bunts. The Warriors
employed the tactic no less than seven times in the second game. Nearly each
time, the play either moved runners or produced a single.
“We were just
taking advantage of what we were given,” Samfong said. “Their third baseman
wasn’t coming in, and we knew their pitcher had an injured ankle.
“It was
just a situation where we were using things to our advantage.”
Wong was
1-for-4 for Kapa’a, but knocked home two runs, including the game winner.
Laranio and Shayna Carvalho picked up the other RBI for the Warriors.
Amii
led the Red Raiders with a 2-for-4 performance, including a double that scored
a run. Rightfielder Stacie Hirota also was 2-for-4.
GAME 1
The Red
Raiders were never in the first game. Laranio struck out nine, as Kapa’a won
6-0. The Warriors racked up seven hits to Kaua’i’s one.
Chelsea Labuguen
was 2-for-4 and registered one RBI to lead Kapa’a. Laranio and Jackie Alapai
also secured RBIs. Kaua’i manages just three hits in 10 innings vs. Kapa’a
hurler
