Trojans outlast Sabers in wild OIA West softball season opener

Markus Uyesugi | Campbell HS

EWA BEACH - There's never a dull moment when it comes to a Mililani-Campbell softball game.

The defending state champion Trojans sent 12 batters to the plate in a six-run top of the sixth inning to take a commanding 10-1 lead, only to see the Sabers march 12 batters of their own in the bottom of the frame to plate seven in a wild 10-8 win. It was more than the Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division season opener the perennial state contenders at Loke Huddy Field. Before the game, retired Sabers coach Michael "Shag" Hermosura was honored by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. In his 14 seasons as head coach, he guided Campbell to five OIA and four Division I state crowns, including three in a row from 2015-2017. He also served as an assistant before taking over in 2012.

"That was so wonderful for Coach Shag," Mililani's veteran coach Rose Antonio said of the pregame celebration. "We go way back. I'm going to miss him."

Hermosura's successor, Katie (Manuma) Epenesa, who was The Honolulu Advertiser's Player of the Year in 2010, said she was a beneficiary of Hermosura's tutelage.

‘It was very emotional because he was my pitching coach my senior year," Epenesa said of Hermosura. "(And) I got to coach two years under him."

The Sabers won their first state title in 2010, under then-coach David Perreira, who now serves as Epenesa's assistant.

Becoming the coach of the storied program was not something on her bucket list. "I didn't want it (the job), but we talked about it as a staff, and we didn't want it to end up in someone else's hand who didn't care for the program and the girls."

The game began as a pitcher's duel between Mililani's Hinano Bautista, the reigning ScorlingLive Pitcher of the Year, against Campbell's Kaienna Fuentes-Arellano. Bautista nursed. 2-1 lead through five. But an error accounted for six unearned runs against Bautista. Fuentes-Arellano also had a case for lack of support. There was a four-base error on a dropped fly ball, as well as misplayed balls and errant throws back to the infield. "Our defense made big errors,"Epenesa said. "They made errors when we're supposed to make easy plays."

In the Sabers' big inning, "We just didn't take care of the ball," Antonio said.

The inning included a grand slam by Sophie Alo, who had a first-inning RBI single to give Campbell a short-lived 1-0 lead.

But the Trojans did not fold under pressure during Campbell's big inning. Bautista said having played in pressure games over the past years helped.

"It prepared us for where we are today, and it really came in handy."

The two meet later this month at Mililani.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].