Waiakea has emerged at the top of the Baseball Top 10 after routing Konawaena 15-0 in the BIIF playoffs. Coach Chris Honda’s team is 14-1 overall and received five first-place votes from the panel of coaches and media.
Kamehameha, which lost to Pac-Five 10-5 in the ILH round-two tournament, dropped to No. 2. Pac-Five moved up three notches to No. 3. Both teams have sealed berths in the state championships with the league championship at stake this week.
If the Wolfpack win the round-two double-elimination tournament, they will play round-one winner Kamehameha for the ILH title on Wednesday.
Mililani moved up three spots to No. 4 after a 13-3 win over Pearl City for the OIA championship on Friday.
Baldwin remained at No. 5 in a tie with Mid-Pacific. Baldwin lost to King Kekaulike 5-4 on Saturday. This sets up an MIL championship game today at Iron Maehara Stadium.
Mid-Pacific plays ‘Iolani on Wednesday in the third-place tiebreaker for the ILH’s last chance for a spot in the state tournament. The ‘Iolani-MPI winner flies to the Big Island on Saturday to play the BIIF third-place team in a play-in game.
Campbell’s 6-4 win over Mililani in the OIA semifinals on Friday shocked the Hawaii high school softball world. The Lady Sabers went on to crush Kapolei 19-1 in the title game. With a senior-heavy roster with key underclassmen, pitcher Lily Perreira kept Kapolei’s talented hit squad largely off balance.
It may have been the best performance of the sophomore’s career. That changeup is still baffling hitters in their nightmares. Campbell’s strong finish to the OIA season did not go unnoticed. The Sabers collected four out of eight first-place votes and surged from seventh to No. 1 in this week’s Star-Advertiser Softball Top 10.
Last week’s top six teams moved down one notch. Mililani has two first-place votes, as does Maryknoll, which edged Kamehameha 8-7 in nine innings to complete a suspended game that began Friday. The Spartans can clinch the ILH title with a win over Kamehameha or Punahou today in round-two tournament play.
Pearl City returned to the Top 10 at No. 8 after outscoring Kalani 12-7 to secure the OIA’s fifth and final state-tourney berth.
Radford arrived in the Top 10 for the first time this season at No. 9. The Lady Rams (14-4 overall) posted impressive wins over elite teams in February, beating Top 10 programs Kaiser and Kapaa, and Millikan, a Top 100 team in California.
The Rams’ nemesis in OIA Division II play was Nanakuli, but they edged the Golden Hawks for the league championship on Saturday.
> next: vs. KS-Hawaii, Tuesday, April 28, 3 p.m., Wong Stadium
> next: vs. No. 3 Pac-Five, Monday, April 27, Hans
> next: if KS wins, vs. No. 3 Pac-Five, Tuesday, April 27, Hans
> next: if P5 wins on Monday or Tuesday, KS vs. Pac-Five, Wednesday, April 28, ILH championship
> next: if KS wins on Monday and Tuesday, next game is Thursday, May 7, HHSAA
> next: vs. No. 2 Kamehameha, Monday, April 27, 3:30 p.m., Hans
> next: if KS wins, vs. No. 3 Pac-Five, Tuesday, April 27, Hans
> next: if P5 wins on Monday or Tuesday, KS vs. Pac-Five, Wednesday, April 28, ILH championship