Mililani's Maya Saneishi comes in to score in an OIA Division I semifinal game against Roosevelt. CJ Caraang | SL

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KAKAAKO — A big seventh inning propelled No. 2 Mililani to a 9-2 win over sixth-ranked Roosevelt in the semifinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I softball tournament Monday night.

A crowd of about 300 fans at McKinley Tiger Softball Stadium saw the Trojans (11-3) send 12 batters to the plate in the top of the seventh, when they scored seven runs on eight hits to pull away from the Rough Riders (11-3).

Mililani will try for its 11th league title when it faces top-ranked Pearl City at 7 p.m. Tuesday at McKinley.

"It feels really good. We worked hard for this. We work hard every day," said Trojans pitcher Misha Carreira, who went the distance and struck out 11 in the win.

The game was knotted at 2 through six innings before Mililani, the West No. 2 seed, broke it open in the seventh. Eight of its 12 hits came in the inning — seven of them with two outs.

Pinch hitter Katie Carlos started the rally with a one-out single back up the middle. Tarah Aniya's sacrifice bunt moved Carlos — the trying run — over to second and one batter later, Maya Yoshiura brought her home with a single into left field.

A single by Merilis Rivera and a Roosevelt fielding error put two runners in scoring position to set-up a three-run home run by clean-up hitter Markie Okamoto, which put the Trojans ahead 6-2. Three batters later — after back-to-back singles by Shannon Pascua-Stanton and Tracie Okumura — Taylor Schmerbauch crushed the first pitch from Roosevelt pitcher Jaeda Cabunoc well over the fence in right center for another 3-run homer.

"I think it was a matter of who wanted it the most and who came up clutch and Katie Carlos, our sophomore, came up clutch for us," said Rivera, one of four players to pair hits for Mililani. "She's a great batter and a great player and she really came up clutch for us."

Rivera gave the Trojans their first lead at 2-1 with her two-out single in the top of the third that scored Jerae Keliikoa and Maya Saneishi.

Mililani scored all of its runs with two outs.

"We finally had timely hitting," Trojans coach Rose Antonio said. "We try to put runners in scoring position and we try to push them across, but we were making good contact and putting the ball in play."

Carreira, a senior right-hander, rebounded from a tenuous start to the game. Her very first pitch left the park after Maya Nakamura belted a home run to straight away center field to lead off the bottom of the first.

"Their shortstop (Nakamura) was solid," Antonio said. "That first-pitch home run, I mean, what can you say? She hit it, but Misha settled down and found the zone and we adjusted as a team."

The only other run Carreira surrendered came on Mika Emoto's two-out single that scored the tying run in Megan Taguchi in the bottom of the fifth inning.

However, Carreira struck out six of the final seven batters she faced to close it out. She posted a career-best 11 strikeouts for the game and got Roosevelt batters to swing-and-miss a staggering 20 times.

"Misha is a great pitcher and mentally she's getting there," said Rivera, who is signed with the University of Hawaii for next year. "She's real tough and if anything, she got herself. She knows how to pick herself up and she's played this game long enough to compete and keep her head up and she's doing a great job in the circle for us."

Carreira did not issue a walk until the fifth inning and allowed just three free passes total. She stranded six base runners and hit one batter.

"I just kept it off the plate and then I came inside to keep them off-balance, but we couldn't let up. We couldn't take it easy," Carreira said. "I knew my defense had my back. I trust in them and I just had to be confident."

Yoshiura batted 2 for 4, Okumura 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored and Sanieishi went 2 for 3 with two runs scored for the Trojans.

Emoto batted 2 for 3 and Nakamura drew two of Roosevelt's three walks in the loss.

Cabunoc was the losing pitcher for the Rough Riders, who saw their 10-game win streak snapped. She walked two and struck out two.

Roosevelt will host two-time defending state champion Campbell, which lost to top-ranked Pearl City 1-0 in nine innings in the late semifinal, for third place Tuesday.

Mililani reached the OIA final last season, but lost to Kapolei, 6-5. It will be playing in its fourth consecutive league final.