LIHU‘E — In a game that had momentum shifts resembling a heavyweight fight, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders’ improbable comeback was turned away as the wheels came off in the sixth inning, when visiting St. Francis landed the final furious flurry
LIHU‘E — In a game that had momentum shifts resembling a heavyweight fight, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders’ improbable comeback was turned away as the wheels came off in the sixth inning, when visiting St. Francis landed the final furious flurry to advance to the state tournament.
The play-in game for the last spot in the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II softball tournament resulted in a 24-11, six-inning victory for the Troubadors of Honolulu’s St. Francis School, Saturday afternoon at Isenberg Park in Lihu‘e.
Coming off an extra-inning defeat to the Waimea Lady Menehune on Wednesday night, the Raider Wahine still had a chance to head to Honolulu for the Div. II tournament with a win Saturday.
The game’s opening frame didn’t provide much hope for that outcome, as St. Francis sprinted out of the gate with an eight-run first inning. The first seven batters to step to the plate for the Troubadours eventually scored. They got four hits and were also aided by five Kaua‘i errors.
Before Raiders leadoff hitter Daeja Cummings even picked up a bat, the team had a huge mountain to climb.
They began to immediately chip away, as Melia Aki nailed a two-run, inside-the-park home run that also scored Kyana Hirokane, putting Kaua‘i down 8-2 after the first.
St. Francis added one in the second on an RBI single by Tiffany Trantham, but Kaua‘i got it back in the third on an RBI single from Adriana Medeiros, making it a 9-3 game.
A Troubadour run in the fourth on a squeeze bunt made it 10-3, which remained the score until Kaua‘i came up in the bottom of the fifth, when the Raiders made their play for a trip to O‘ahu.
A single by Hirokane and back-to-back hit batsmen loaded the bases with two outs. Moana Waipa came through with an RBI single to score Aki from third. Kyren Ishikawa then smacked a two-run single to left field, plating Medeiros and Angel Camarillo to make it a 10-6 game.
St. Francis took out starting pitcher Trantham and brought in Brooke Langsi with two on and two out.
Waileia Kaneali‘i quickly greeted her with an RBI single that scored Waipa. Cummings followed that up with an infield single to bring home Ishikawa, cutting the deficit to just two at 10-8.
Naja Pungan then walked, with the fourth ball going to the backstop to bring home Kaneali‘i. Hirokane followed with a clutch two-run single to score both Cummings and Pungan, sending the Raiders into the lead, 11-10, before the Troubadours finally retired the side.
The St. Francis dugout, which had been chirping loudly for four-and-a-half innings, was suddenly quiet.
That silence didn’t last for long, though Kaua‘i still led 11-10 with two on and two out in the top of the sixth. But from that point, St. Francis sent 12 straight hitters to the plate, which included eight base hits, before Kaua‘i managed to get the final out of the inning.
All told in the sixth, the Troubadours sent 17 hitters to the plate, scored 14 runs on eight hits, with five Raiders errors contributing to the damage. Ashley Kahapea-Wagner finished things off with an inside-the-park, two-run home run to put St. Francis up 24-11.
With Kaua‘i unable to plate any runs in the bottom half, the game was over after six innings via the 10-run rule.
Hirokane was 3 for 3 with a run and two RBIs on the day for Kaua‘i. Medeiros also went 3 for 3 with a run scored.
Waipa went 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI. Ishikawa was 1 for 3 with a run and two RBIs.
Aki was 1 for 3 with two runs and three RBIs, including that first-inning homer. Kaneali‘i was 1 for 3 with a run and an RBI, while Cummings was 1 for 4 with a run and an RBI.
Pungan went the full six innings for the Raiders, picking up the loss on the mound.
Langsi was the pitcher of record for St. Francis, notching the win in 1.1 innings of work, after Trantham threw the first 4.2 innings.
The result means the Waimea Lady Menehune, KIF champions after their 11-7 win over Kaua‘i in eight innings, will be the lone KIF team at the state tournament. The Div. II bracket was not yet released as of press time.
The tournament will take place from Tuesday to Friday, first at the Central O‘ahu Regional Park, then finishing off at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
In the Division I tournament, Campbell is the top seed, followed by Mid-Pacific Institute, Waiakea and Lahainaluna in the top four. They will all await their opponents in the quarterfinals, while eight teams are set to play first-round games on Tuesday at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Those matchups will begin at 1 p.m., starting with Kealakehe-Kapolei, followed by Kailua-Leilehua, Baldwin-Mililani and finally Punahou-Castle.
For more information, visit www.sportshigh.com.
