WAIMEA — Kelsie Igne had a homerun. That helped Waimea stay in the title chase at the 21st annual Waimea High School Softball Invitational tournament yesterday. Igne was one of the six runs the Menehune generated to get past Iolani
WAIMEA — Kelsie Igne had a homerun.
That helped Waimea stay in the title chase at the 21st annual Waimea High School Softball Invitational tournament yesterday.
Igne was one of the six runs the Menehune generated to get past Iolani 6-4 in the third-place game.
Earlier in the day, Waimea got past Kamehameha-Hawai‘i 5-3 to advance to their matchup against the Iolani Red Raiders.
Joining Igne in their battle against the Iolani Red Raiders, Moani Durant, Shana Tafiti, Tatum Gonsalves and Ariel Mizumoto crossed the plate to give Waimea the semifinal slot against the Mililani Trojans for the tournament title.
That battle was a defensive slugfest until the third inning when the Trojans pushed their first run across. Genelle Nitta crossed the plate to open up the championship scorebook and in the bottom of the sixth inning, Mililani locked up the title as Courtney Senas and Makani Duhaylonsod scored to take the game 3-0.
With the win, Mililani goes back to O‘ahu with the tournament title while Waimea prepares to open up the KIF softball season Dec. 6.
The loss repeats Waimea’s bid at the recent Mililani tournament where they finished second in the consolation bracket.
Earlier in the day, Kapa‘a was a victim of the clock as they had the go-ahead run sitting at third, but fell short 4-3 to Pac-5 Saturay.
Loke Manaku belted a 2-RBI double late in their game to push two runs home to ignite Kapa‘a, but the Warriors were able to just add another run before the game ended.
In another game involving Kaua‘i High School, the Red Raiders were able to get ahead of the Sacred Hearts Lancers 3-1 Saturday.
Throughout the three-day tournament, fans commented on how close the KIF softball season will be based on the performances of the three Kaua‘i schools.
Waimea has experience in the infield and the bats to back that as Igne and Tafiti both tallied homeruns during the tournament. Cassie “Big Bird” Koerte was strong on the mound and with Igne and Durant anchoring first and third base, respectively, the Menehune were ready to battle.
Kapa‘a, despite losing several players to team rules violations, are still strong in the infield. Senior Stephanie Kawamura has matured considerably from the time she unfurled her first ball on the mound. Manaku is strong at first and is joined at second base by Hanalei Gomes with Leana Baltazar anchoring third. The glue to this solid package comes in the form of Jocelyn Enrique who is the field general at shortstop, being backed in left by the flowergirl, Ella Arume.
These two teams meet Dec. 6 at the Waimea Canyon Park starting at 5:30 p.m. for the KIF season opener.
Jessica Iwata was one of the Kaua‘i players who caught the eye of visiting Mililani parents who were watching Kaua‘i in action. The leadoff hitting shortstop also got strong support in the pitching-catching combination of Wailana Borrero and Sam Koga.
Secondbase Amanda Mayer lost little time showing her defensive moves as she pulled off a double play in the first inning of their game against Sacred Hearts Saturday.
Kaua‘i will see KIF action on Dec. 9 when they host Waimea to a double-header starting at 10 a.m.
