The championship stages are officially set.
The BIIF softball semifinals wrapped up this weekend, and Wednesday’s Division I and II island championships are expected to be exciting ones.
In Saturday’s decisive Game 3 of the DI semis, No. 2 Hilo edged third-seeded Kealakehe in a high-scoring affair, winning 21-18 at home. The Vikings elevated to 6-3-1 overall, while the Waveriders’ season ended at 5-5.
The Vikings went down 10-0 early, but quickly recovered for a mid-game outburst at the plate. With the win, Hilo earned an automatic bid into the state tournament.
Hilo has a scoring margin of 126-95, and has won five of its last six games. Vaiqueen Porter leads the Vikings in runs, triples, home runs, wins in the circle and strikeouts. Mackenzie Valentin leads in RBI, doubles and hits.
The Vikings will match up with the class of Big Island softball — top seed Waiakea, who completed its sweep of No. 4 Konawaena with a 24-1 win in Game 2 of Thursday’s semifinals on the west side. The winners had an 11-run outburst in the fifth inning to end the game with a run rule.
Of the Warriors’ 16 hits, Jessie Garza led with four — including four RBI. Teammates Meghan Spencer and Keani Kaneshiro each added three hits, while Ritanii Henry and Tinei Soi added two each. Kamberlyn Kelekoma and Marla Malasaga added one hit apiece.
In the circle, once again Spencer dominated — striking out seven batters while allowing two hits across 5.0 innings. Spencer leads Waiakea in wins (6), innings pitched (31.0), strikeouts (31), home runs (2), triples (3) and triples (3).
The Warriors elevated to a perfect 10-0 record, scoring an impressive 169 runs thus far. They enter this week’s title game as clear favorites to win the conference. Waiakea is 2-0 against Hilo this season, outscoring the Vikings 27-9.
Breezy Uemoto logged Kona’s only two base hits. Kaylia Torrres and Jaycee Sato shared time pitching in the circle.
In the Division-II bracket, first-seeded Kamehameha-91直播 handled business against No. 4 Pahoa — winning 27-11 in Thursday’s Game 2 to advance to the championship. The Warriors elevated to 7-1, while the Daggers end their season at 0-6.
Kealohi Ili led KSH with three hits, including a home run. Teammates Layla Masaoka, Hailey Kailiuli, Shiann Santos, Alaula Awong and Kaililia Thompson-Ua hit two each. Shay Beals, Rylie Kagimoto, Caroline Newman and Kairie Owens-Zulueta each logged one hit.
Ili leads her team in RBI (10), doubles (3), triples (1) and home runs (2).
Across the season, the Warriors have scored 153 runs. They have also won five straight, peaking at the right time before their most important game of this season.
KSH will match up with second-seeded Honoka‘a in the championship, who also wrapped up its semifinal sweep of Kohala on Thursday in Kapa‘au — winning in a 17-6 run rule. The Dragons improved to 6-2 overall, while the Cowgirls season ended at 2-6.
Kanai Tolentino led the winners with a homer, while teammates Emalia Emmsley and Lilana Kitashima added three hits each. Keira Agdeppa and Jaycia Silva also added a triples.
Dragon Kayliah Kauahi struck out seven, earning the win after three strong innings in the circle. Emmsley also pitched at the end of the afternoon to close things out.
The DII championship should be a thriller, as both KSH and Honoka‘a are 1-1 against each other this season.
See the paper next week for softball championship updates.
