Kaiser weathers early deficit to post opening round win over Waiakea

Greg Yamamoto | SL

Despite a rocky start, the Cougars are still on the prowl for a state title.

Kaiser trailed 3-0 after the opening inning, but scored 10 unanswered runs in the final six innings to post a 10-3 win over Waiakea in the first game of day one of the DataHouse/HHSAA Divsion I Softball State Championships.

A four run third inning was the jump start the Cougars' needed with a leadoff triple by Elyse Yoshioka lighting the fuse for the fireworks to follow four batters later courtesy of Paisley Kuba, who belted a three-run home run over the wall in left center to make it a 5-3 contest.

"It was huge," said Yoshioka of Kuba's homer. "Especially for her, slowly building her confidence up, today was just her day."

That offensive spark seemed to settle the Cougars' considerably, in particular Yoshioka, as she allowed just a single and a walks before giving way to Makenzie Yokoyama, who closed out the fifth before closing out the game.

A double play to end any hope of a run threat in the sixth was also key, with Kaiser going 5-4-3 to get out of the inning.

Four more runs got pushed across in the sixth, as the Cougars parlayed three singles, an error and a fielder's choice to make it 9-3 after six complete.

"I think we just focused on getting one hit at a time and if one of us gets out we just focus on getting the next one and keep moving forward," said Yoshioka of the Cougars' approach offensively.

Kuba was a perfect 4 for 4 in the contest, scoring thrice and driving in four, with a second inning triple to boot, and Audrey Higa was 3 for 5 with two runs scored and an RBI to pace the Cougars, who racked up 13 hits.

Yoshioka allowed three runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings of work, and Yokoyama just one hit in 2 1/3.

Waiakea's Tehani Chinen threw a complete game in the cirlce and was 2 for 3 with a run scored and a RBI in the loss.

Up next for Kaiser is a quarterfinal matchup with ILH champion Maryknoll, with first pitch set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"We're just excited for the competition," said Yoshioka. "We know that we can do anything without team and with our energy and belief in each other."