Game of the Week
State's top two teams to face off with ILH title at stake


Mid-Pacific's Taylor Ann Oda holds up between second and third base in a game against Kamehameha on April 9, 2014. Evan Asato | SL

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I softball championship comes down to one game Saturday morning.

Mid-Pacific, the top-ranked team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Softball Power Rankings, will visit No. 2 Kamehameha at 10 a.m. with not only the league title, but a seeded-berth in next month's state tournament on the line.

It will be the second game in three days for the Owls (12-3), who beat Maryknoll 6-2 Thursday in the first game of the three-team playoff. Kamehameha, Mid-Pacific and Maryknoll finished the regular season with identical 11-3 records to force the playoff. The Warriors swept the season series with the Spartans to earn the first-round bye, while the Owls split with both teams.

If Kamehameha wins, it will claim the league title and give Mid-Pacific the ILH's second state-tournament berth, forcing Maryknoll to earn a trip to states via the league's postseason tournament next week. If Mid-Pacific wins, it will be the ILH champ and Kamehameha would have to play Maryknoll on Monday for the second state berth. The loser of that game would be relegated to the top seed in the postseason tournament.

After a 2-3 start, the Owls have won 10 straight games headed into Saturday's showdown.

Lindsey Matoi drove in four runs, including a three-run triple in the fifth inning of MPI's win over Maryknoll Thursday. Taylor Ann Oda batted 2 for 3, scored twice and drove in a run, as did Sarah Onishi. Nicole Lopez drew three of her team's five walks off Spartans' pitcher Shearyna Labasan. Kaili Ann Akimseu went the distance in the pitching circle for the Owls. She scattered eight hits, struck out two and walked none.

The Warriors have scored at least 12 runs in each of their past three games, including a 12-3 win over Sacred Hearts Tuesday. Rachel Dumlao doubled and drove in two runs, Rachel Ogasawara batted 3 for 5 with an RBI and pitcher Kamalani Dung picked up the win to improve to 7-2 with an ERA of 2.02 on the year.

This will be the third meeting between the teams this year. Kamehameha won the first time, 8-4, back on March 15 and Mid-Pacific won the last game, 8-6, on April 9.