Fourth-ranked Maryknoll outduels Punahou in extra-inning affair

Brian Bautista | SL

Neither team shied away from the Saturday night lights of McKinley.

In an eight-inning slugfest, Maryknoll emerged victorious over Punahou, 7-6, on the back of monstrous performances by senior third baseman Jennalyn Sniffen and junior right fielder Kasi Cruz.

Sniffen finished the night with a perfect 4 for 4 with three doubles, including the crucial leadoff double in the bottom of the 8th inning, which set up Cruz to walk it off with a single to left field.

"Well, it's kind of to be expected," laughed Spartans' head coach John Uekawa regarding Sniffens performance.

"There's such high expectations for her; right now, she has a job to do, and she does it every single time. She's like a coach on the field; she's been all-state since her freshman year. She's one of the fiercest players in the ILH." Uekawa added.

Her first double of the game came in the bottom of the first inning, when she drove in leadoff hitter Reyni Hiraoka to grab a 1-0 lead for Maryknoll.

Punahou roared back in the top of the second as third baseman Faatamalii Brown crushed a two-run home run to dead center field to put Punahou ahead 2-1.

Maryknoll's largest explosion of offense came in their four-run bottom of the third inning, ignited by (you guessed it) a Sniffen double to right center field. Cruz followed her up with a two-run moonshot to dead center.

Later in the inning, Palehua Silva scored on a wild pitch following a single, and a solo homer to right field from Kiana Kamisato saw the Spartans go up 5-2. In the process, the Spartans also knocked Punahou ace Paige Brunn out of the game.

After a few scoreless innings, the Buff and Blue wrenched the momentum back with a four-run inning of their own in the top of the 6th. Spirits were high in the Punahou dugout after Austin Kinney smacked a two-RBI double into left center field. The next at bat, Shayla Yamashita obliterated a two-run, no-doubt home run to center field, waving goodbye to the ball before she was halfway down the first baseline. Punahou was back in the driver's seat with a 6-5 lead.

Maryknoll found a timely response in the bottom of the sixth after back-to-back hits from Cruz and Silva knocked in the tying run in Sniffen, who drew a walk to start the two-out rally and send the game to overtime.

When asked about her mindset as she stepped up to the plate before her eventual 8th inning walk-off hit, Cruz referenced a focus on situational execution.

"I was just keeping my mind focused. Coaches told me 'no pop-ups' so I was really concentrating on that while taking deep breaths in."

Freshman pitcher Molly Davi pitched a complete game and received the win for Maryknoll, giving up 7 hits and 2 walks while only conceding two earned runs and striking out four batters.