LIHU‘E — Both collegiate softball players agreed on one thing Monday afternoon. “We got right into practice as soon as we go back,” said Wailana Borrero, a walk-on pitcher for Mesa State College softball team in Colorado. “Our season starts
LIHU‘E — Both collegiate softball players agreed on one thing Monday afternoon.
“We got right into practice as soon as we go back,” said Wailana Borrero, a walk-on pitcher for Mesa State College softball team in Colorado. “Our season starts Feb. 22 against St. Cloud State and continues all the way through May. That is not counting any post-season play.”
Borrero, a graduate of Kaua‘i High School where she was the pitcher and clean-up batter in the lineup, is a freshman in Colorado and has already shown her ability at Mesa State.
“I pitched one complete game and closed two or three games,” Borrero said. “I think we played six games in the pre-season and only had one loss.”
That loss was not at Borrero’s hand, the former Red Raider noting that she won all the games she threw.
Borrero and Shana Tafiti, a sophomore shortstop for Central Arizona Junior College softball, were at Isenberg Field, Monday afternoon, working out with Kaua‘i coach Darrell Borrero before the Kaua‘i softball team practice.
Tafiti, despite a shoulder surgery which sidelined her for part of her freshman year at Central, finished the season Second Team All Conference in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference.
“I didn’t know what that meant,” Tafiti said. “When the coach made the announcement, I had to ask the other players.”
In addition to the second team conference honor, Tafiti was also named to the All Region Team along with team mates Nicole Bryan and Katie Tamayo.
Bryan was named to the First Team All Conference and Tamayo joined Tafiti on the Second Team All Conference.
Despite her surgery, Tafiti, playing on a full scholarship, finished the season hitting .328 after starting all 14 games in the season and collecting 12 homeruns. She finished by scattering 13, or 14 Runs Batted In during the season as the No. 4 hitter in the Central lineup.
“I took of of their tips and kept some of mine,” Tafiti said of her success in hitting. “Basically, they didn’t change any of my fielding, but they tied up my hitting.”
Tafiti said because of her surgery she couldn’t hit, but when she did get into the batter’s box, she made the best of the opportunity.
“I was the only Hawai‘i player on the team, and I couldn’t stand it,” Tafiti said of her adjustment to college softball. “I told the coach, ‘we gotta get some more girls.’”
Apparently, the coach agreed because when Tafiti starts her sophomore year, she will be joined by at least five other graduates from Hawai‘i. Of those, four are starting and the fifth is on the Injured list.
Fruen Genesis out of Kaimuki is slated as a starting pitcher, Kai Duarte out of Kamehameha-Maui is penciled in as the starting rightfielder, Shea Shibata out of Maryknoll is slated to be the starting secondbase and Hillary Uyekawa is being looked to as the starting leftfielder. Shauna Ahyen out of Baldwin is on the injured list.
“We really needed pitching, so she even approached coach Darrell about the prospect of Wailana attending Central,” Wailana said. “She called coach Karl (Tashima) and he lined up a lot of the girls.”
Both girls agreed the year in college has given them newfound respect for the coaching at the high school level.
“There’s been stuff I never seen in my life,” Tafiti, who will be with Central Arizona when they go to bat at the Las Vegas Classic, Jan. 29., said. “I’ve seen it all.”
That includes one game where fans were involved in a full brawl, hitting each other and throwing popcorn all over.
She noted that workouts are brutal, the coaches bringing them up to the mountain and making them run to the point where you can’t breathe.
“Snow days are the best,” Wailana, making the team as a walk-on pitcher, said. “Snow days mean there’s no practice. Otherwise, you have to clean out the field of snow so you can practice. But the coaches bring us up to the mountains and make us run in the snow where it’s so cold.”
Wailana said once she gets past her freshman season, there is a good chance she may be considered for a softball scholarship.
Darrell said he is excited there are so many opportunities for Kaua‘i athletes, and beyond that, excited the athletes are taking advantage of the opportunities.
Tafiti said this is her final year at Central, and has already received some calls from colleges interested in her abilities.
Central Arizona starts its softball season Feb. 3 against Glendale.
“Ten years ago, we never saw these kinds of opportunities,” Darrel said. “Today, we have at least five girls playing collegiate softball and there are guys playing collegiate football. It’s definitely an exciting time.”
•Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
