LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i girls softball coach Darrell Borrero revamped his lineup for the final game of Round 1, but kept control of the game to finish the round with a 15-8 edge over Kapa‘a, Wednesday night at Isenberg Field. The
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i girls softball coach Darrell Borrero revamped his lineup for the final game of Round 1, but kept control of the game to finish the round with a 15-8 edge over Kapa‘a, Wednesday night at Isenberg Field.
The Red Raiders finish the round with a 6-0 record.
Naja Pungan, coming off a strong offensive showing in the Raiders’ last outing against Waimea, moved from second base to the pitchers’ mound, where she earned her first win of the season.
“She was excited when coach Darrell told her she would start,” said her mother prior to the start of the game. “She pitched some games last year, but this is her first time for this season.”
Pungan gave up three runs in the opening inning on one hit, a hit batter and a walk, but settled down to finish with eight runs on a total of five hits allowed, including a solo home run by Ta’ashi Napoleon in the fourth frame. She also walked three batters, but struck out seven, including back-to-back hitters after giving up a hit in the fifth inning.
Melina Obar suffered the loss, allowing 15 runs on 13 hits. She finished with six walks and three strikeouts.
Kapa‘a jumped on the new hurler for three runs in the opening frame, its most productive inning as leadoff hitter Kori Kimura got aboard on a miscue.
Obar was hit by a pitch, and the Raiders looked pretty wobbly on defense. Kapa‘a third baseman Leeanna Baltazar singled to drive Kimura home, and scored when Napoleon’s sacrifice fly drove two runs home: Obar and Baltazar.
But the new Raider lineup found its feet and catcher Kawai Klattenhoff, stepping in for Carly Matsumoto, tagged a Kapa‘a runner at the plate and the Warriors left two aboard, both runners getting aboard on bunt singles, when the final Warrior flied out.
The new Kaua‘i batting lineup produced four runs on four hits in the first inning, including an RBI double from Yaemi Felipe, replacing Pungan at second base, that drove Jori Jasper across the plate for the fourth score of the inning.
Kaua‘i bats were led by Jessica Iwata, entering in the fourth inning, who finished 1-1 with five RBI on a home run that came on a three-ball count in the sixth inning. That homer also gives the shortstop an average of one home run for each of the six games she’s played in.
Wailana Borrero relinquished her pitching duties to Pungan, and finished 3-5 with five RBI.
Baltazar and Obar both finished 2-4 for Kapa‘a, Baltazar scoring once and Obar scoring three times. Napoleon rounded out the Warrior bats with her solo home run in the fourth inning.
The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls softball squads open Round 2 on Saturday, April 11, when Kapa‘a hosts Waimea in a double-header at Kapa‘a New Park.
First pitch in that matchup goes off at 10 a.m.
