Skittles to add flavor when M&Ms play for OIA softball title

Brian Bautista | SL

KAKAAKO - Does Cinderella attend Moanalua High School?

Na Menehune will see if the glass slipper fits when they take on perennial power Mililani for the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I softball championship Friday night at McKinley.

There couldn't be two more contrasting teams.

On one hand, the defending OIA and state champion Trojans (11-1), ranked third in the ScoringLive Power Rankings, have 12 OIA titles and are in their 21st title game. Meanwhile, the unranked Na Menehune (10-3), seeded second in the East, will be making their title game debut, looking to become the 12th different league champion since the advent of OIA softball in 1977.

Mililani, the West champions and West top seed, mercy-ruled its way to the title game, beating Waianae 18-2 in four innings because of the 15-run differential in the quarterfinals and took down Kalani, 15-2, in five (10-run rule) in the semifinals.

Moanalua squeaked by seven-time OIA champion Campbell, 7-6, in the quarters and held off East champion Kaiser, 12-10, in Thursday's semifinals.

The Trojans popped five home runs in beating Kalani. Three came from Oklahoma commit Ori Mailo.

"I just wanted to keep it simple, just trusting what I had and just hit the ball," Mailo said about trying for the hat trick.

She batted 3 for 3 with 5 RBIs. Makanalei Watkins-Villegas and Emma Parker also went deep for Mililani.

Meanwhile, Na Menehune failed to clear the fence with their 11 hits against Kaiser, Two doubles were their only extra-base hits, one of them a flare behind third.

"We were just thinking something small, something on the ground, something hard," said second baseman and winning pitcher Kaylah Sato, a freshman.

Mililani has set roles for its players. Moanalua mixes and matches, flexing its versatility.

Sato started the game at second base and finished by pitching the final 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, getting into and out of a two-out bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh.

"We knew they had all the pressure on them, so we just pounded the zone with strikes, and our defense just worked," Sato said.

At the plate, she was equally devastating, batting 4 for 4 with five RBIs, including the go-ahead run with a two-run single in the fifth that gave Moanalua a 9-8 lead. She added an insurance run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly.

This matchup makes Na Menehune the obvious Cinderellla waiting to happen. But they won't rely on magic dust to change their fortunes. Even though this is an old M&Ms match (back in the 1970s when the two schools played regularly because they were in the old Central District), these Na Menehune are fueled by Skittles.

Every time a Menehune reached safely, she would get a handful of candy by their first-base coach.

"It's like a motivation to get on first base," Sato explained,' "or to get on any base."

The routine started in Wednesday's quarterfinal win against Campbell.

"So we've just been doing it all the time now," Sato said.

If that's the case, opponents should fear the rainbow ('Taste the Rainbow" is the multi-colored candy's slogan.

The OIA title comes with a seeded berth and first-round bye for the state tournament, which runs May 6-9 at UH.

In other games on Friday, Kalani will travel to Kaiser to play for third place, while Campbell will host Kapolei for fifth and the OIA's final state berth.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].