LIHU‘E — The Lady Menehune turned a close game into a blowout, running away from Waialua for a 13-3 win in Thursday’s semifinal matchup. Waimea, the No. 2 seed in the Datahouse/HHSAA Softball Division II Championship, scored 10 unanswered runs
LIHU‘E — The Lady Menehune turned a close game into a blowout, running away from Waialua for a 13-3 win in Thursday’s semifinal matchup.
Waimea, the No. 2 seed in the Datahouse/HHSAA Softball Division II Championship, scored 10 unanswered runs to force the 10-run rule into effect and advance to today’s championship game.
Gaylan “Ulu” Matagiese led the Waimea attack, going 3 for 4 with a home run, a double, three runs and three RBIs.
Davelynn Tafiti was a perfect 4 for 4, finishing with four singles, two runs and two RBIs, as well as three stolen bases.
Tanisha DeFabian was 2 for 3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs. Taylor Ephan and Mariebeth Watanabe each finished with two hits, two runs and one RBI apiece.
Pitcher Michelle Koerte got the victory, improving to 2-0 in the tournament, going six innings and giving up three runs on eight hits and striking out two. She was also 1 for 3 with an RBI at the dish.
Erin Connelly added a base hit, Laura Rita had an RBI and Fiare Moe and Cassandra Dupree each scored a run for Waime.
Waimea now takes on Pac-Five for the Div. II title at 5 p.m. today at the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The game will be shown live on OC16, as well as radio coverage on KQNG 570 AM.
Pac-Five advanced Thursdy by knocking out top-seeded Kalani, 6-1. Kalani had beaten Kaua‘i High School in the quarterfinals, Wednesday.
With the scored tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Waimea seized control with an offensive outpouring. Ephan brought home the first run with a fielder’s choice to plate Dupree. Matagiese followed that up with an RBI double to score Watanabe. DeFabian and Tafiti each contributed RBI singles to make it a 7-3 game, then Rita took a two-out walk with the bases loaded to force home the fifth run of the inning and take an 8-3 lead.
The Lady Menehune left the bases loaded, but did not take long to put another crooked number on the scoreboard as Ephan made it 9-3, scoring on a Waialua error. Tafiti then came up with a bunt base hit to bring home Matagiese.
Koerte made it 11-3 with a single through the left side to score DeFabian. Tafiti came home on an error, leading to a Watanabe single to bring home Moe for the 13-3 lead and ending the game.
The Lady Menehune got things going in the bottom of the first as Matagiese smacked a home run to left field with Watanabe aboard to get Waimea out to a 2-0 lead.
Waialua re-took the lead in the top of the third inning, plating three runs on four hits for the 3-2 advantage. It got started with two singles, then scored the first run on a passed ball. Alyssiah Hernandez singled to score Michaela Chalker, then Jessica Tremblor hit sac fly to score Charee Wong for the one-run lead.
That was all Koerte allowed on the day, holding Waialua scoreless the rest of the way. Waimea tied the game at 3-3 on a Waialua error, Tafiti scoring after stealing third base.
