Kaua‘i High School graduate Jessica Iwata is one of three freshmen expected to make an immediate impact for the University of Hawai‘i softball team, said coach Bob Coolen. Iwata, coming off a stellar Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation season, is penciled in
Kaua‘i High School graduate Jessica Iwata is one of three freshmen expected to make an immediate impact for the University of Hawai‘i softball team, said coach Bob Coolen.
Iwata, coming off a stellar Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation season, is penciled in to start the season at shortstop, a position she played for the Red Raiders.
She is one of nine newcomers led by National Fastpitch College Association Junior College All-American transfer Jenna Rodriguez, states a release from the University of Hawai‘i athletic department.
Rodriguez will start in leftfield and will make her presence known on the mound as a likely relief pitcher.
Iwata will be joined by true freshman pitcher Kaia Parnaby and redshirt freshman Kelly Majam.
Parnaby is an Australian southpaw who was the youngest player to earn a spot on her country’s national team this past summer. Majam is set to make her long-awaited Rainbow Wahine debut after missing all of last season due to a preseason injury.
The University of Hawai‘i softball team opens its 26th season Thursday with the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic, squaring off against McNeese State starting at 6 p.m.
Coolen enters his 19th season at the helm of the Rainbow Wahine softball program and returns 12 letter-winners from a team that finished 30-24 overall and just a half-game short of first place in the Western Athletic Conference.
The returnees are led by four 2009 All-WAC selections in first team selection Amanda Tauali‘i, first baseman. Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu, Kanani Pu‘u-Warren and 2009 WAC Freshman of the Year Stephanie Ricketts complete the lineup of returnees.
Hawai‘i faces a challenging schedule in 2010, including 12 teams that advanced to the NCAA Regionals last year, including perennial powers Stanford, Oklahoma, Arizona, DePaul, California, Fresno State and defending NCAA Champions, Washington.
Other Kaua‘i wahine on the Hawai‘i roster include Jori Jasper of Lihu‘e and Jocelyn Enrique of Anahola, pegged as first base and infield, respectively.
For more information, visit the University of Hawai‘i athletics Web site at www.hawaiiathletics.com.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
