Brian Bautista | SL

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At first, Taryn Irimata was not all that enamored with the sport of softball. 

But eventually she grew to love it. 

The recent-Campbell graduate put together a senior season to remember this spring, which culminated in All-Hawaii Pitcher of the Year honors for Irimata and a state championship for her team. 

Irimata compiled a 15-0 win-loss record with a 1.37 earned run average and a staggering 124 strikeouts. In 97 innings pitched, she allowed 19 earned runs on 51 hits. Irimata only issued 10 walks all year. Her season of dominance led to Irimata being tabbed by ScoringLive staff as the Female Distinguished Athlete award winner for the 2022-2023 school year. 

"It means a lot. It's kind of crazy to be recognized like that," said Irimata, who was quick to acknowledge those who have helped her along the way. 

"My teammates and my coaches and my teachers, definitely, because they all had my back and they all supported me throughout the year," she said. 

Sabers coach Shag Hermosura praised the play of his ace pitcher and the season that she orchestrated. 

"Her season was great, the whole team's season was great, but she pitched a hell of a season. She worked hard in practice, in school also academically, did her community service; She did everything that I asked of her," Hermosura said. 

But it wasn't always smooth sailing for Irimata and Hermosura. The pair admitted that they had their philosophical differences at first, but eventually came to an understanding that each had to trust the other. 

"I think there were times where we didn't agree on the same pitch calling to certain batters, or it was like me telling him, not how to coach, but that I think this batter can hit this or can't hit this, so it was just kind of learning to trust each other, learning that I probably know the batters because I play against them and learning that he knows when to call certain pitches and how to have a good pitch sequence," Irimata explained. 

Hermosura gave his take on it. 

"In the beginning we kind of banged heads, but she kind of realized that we need to set up the batter and then we worked on her different pitches, but she put in the work. I already had the feeling that we had a great team and that we could go all the way, but I really felt like we could excel further and further as we went along," he said. 

What never wavered over the years was Irimata's fiery competitiveness. 

"She always wanted the ball," Hermosura stated. "She wanted to prove, not just to me and to the community, but to herself that she can do it and by working hard like she did at practice and with her outside club team, she put it together where she said, ‘I'm gonna do this, I really wanna do this,' and she did it."

Irimata's will to succeed kept her focused on continued improvement, whether it was with her club or high school team. 

"I think I just want to be the best version of myself and seeing all of the athletes in college and all the people who do really big things, I think it inspired me to be able to make a name for myself, too," Irimata said. 

As far as inspiration, Irimata didn't have to look far. She credits her mother Andrea – a former collegiate water polo player at the University of Hawaii – for her unconditional support. 

"I think my mom is a big part of it, just because she's been through a lot and she's always found a way to make sure I have what I need," Irimata said. 

In addition to softball, Irimata grew up playing baseball and soccer. It wasn't until she was around 11 years old, however, that Irimata tried her hand at pitching. 

"I actually played shortstop and stuff," Irimata recalled. She reflected upon an injury (fractured clavicle) that she suffered when she was "eight or nine."

"I broke my collarbone and I struggled to come back. I was scared of the ball and scared of getting hurt again so I never really played and just kind of cheered from the bench, but pitching just kind of came into the picture and I think that brought back my love for softball and made me work harder to be good at it," Irimata said. 

Irimata was more than "good" over the course of her prep career – which was cut into by the COVID pandemic that wiped away most of her freshman and sophomore seasons. Irimata earned All-OIA West Player of the Year honors this season and repeated as a First Team All-Hawaii selection. She was tabbed most outstanding player of the state tournament and was also picked as the Gatorade State Player of the Year. In early June, Irimata was one of 12 recent graduates inducted into the HHSAA's Hall of Honor. 

"I look back a lot from my freshman year to now and it's been a journey. There's been a lot of tough times and a lot of highs and a lot of lows and I feel like a lot of the lows got us to help accomplish what we did this year," Irimata said. 

Hermosura holds Irimata in high company when it comes to her prep softball exploits. 

"She's just like a Jocelyn Alo hitting, but she's a pitcher; She was great and I know she's going to excel at the next level and get better and better," he said. 

Before Irimata embarks on her collegiate playing career at the University of Nevada, Reno, she reminisced about what high school sports meant to her. 

"I feel like having fun and being a good example for the future generations, I think that's the big thing about high school sports," she said. "It's difficult to be a student-athlete, but learning to balance the two – being a student and an athlete – it really helped me prepare for the future by being able to multitask and just learning my priorities and time management and learning dedication also and you can learn a lot from the sport itself, too."

Irimata, who plans to major in kinesiology, is both the first softball player to win the Female Distinguished Athlete award and the first student-athlete, male or female, from Campbell to be recognized for the honor. 

Previous winners of the Female Distinguished Athlete award are Jasmine Mau (2014), Chanelle Molina (2015, 2016), Lia Foster (2017), Cherilyn Molina (2018), Kalina Obrey (2019), Keonilei Akana (2020) and Devin Kahahawai (2022).