Campbell cashes in on walks, errors to advance to semifinals

Greg Yamamoto | SL

KAHALA - No. 6 Campbell scored 11 runs in the last four innings en route to a 13-6 win against host and No. 10 Kalani Thursday in a quarterfinal of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I softball tournament at Kilauea District Park.

The Sabers (9-5) advance to Friday's semifinals against Mililani in a nightcap at McKinley's Tiger Softball Stadium. In the other semifinal, Moanalua will face Kapolei at 5 p.m. Both games will be televised by Spectrum OC 16. The quarterfinal winners earned state berths.

The Falcons (8-3), like the other quarterfinal losers, face an uphill task to qualify for the OIA's fifth state berth. Kalani will host Leilehua in a fifth-place semifinal at Kilauea, while Pearl City will visit Kaiser in the other fifth semifinal. Unlike previous years when the OIA had six berths, all those teams had to do was win the fifth-place semifinals to gain state berths.

It wasn't the prettiest win for the Sabers, having cashed in on 11 walks and eight Kalani errors.

"The good news is we're in states now," Campbell first-year coach Katie Epenesa said. "We left 16 (runners) on, not our best, but we're going to take it."

In the most competitive quarterfinal, East top seed Moanalua beat Pearl City 10-8. In the other two quarters, Kapolei rolled Kaiser, 21-11, and Mililani hammered Leilehua 25-0.

Winning pitcher Lily Perreira pitched five innings and worked around five walks to limit the damage. Kaienna Fuentes-Arellano added two innings of scoreless relief.

Losing pitcher Naomi Stremick allowed seven hits but was victimized by nine walks in five non-consecutive innings. Of the 11 runs she was charged with, five were unearned. Kealohilani Neal-Viela added two non-consecutive innings of relief, allowing a hit and two unearned runs. The Sabers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second with the help of two errors, but the Falcons took a brief lead in the bottom of the third on Stremick's three-run home run to right.

Campbell took the lead back in a four-run fourth, which included two bases-loaded walks and Fuentes-Arellano's RBI double. But the Falcons cut their deficit to one with two runs in the bottom of the frame.

Campbell added to their lead with a three-run fifth, highlighted by Taileen Asoau's two-run single, and tacked on three in the seventh, aided by more Kalani errors.

The Sabers got a scare in the fifth when Sophia Alo had a mishap running to first base; she left the game and was seen with an ice pack on her lower back. Epenesa said she should be able to play in Friday's semifinal.

Campbell faces a steep climb when it faces the defending OIA and state champion Mililani. The Trojans have run-ruled their opponents five times. Campbell is the only opponent to stay close to the Trojans ( losing 10-8 and 4-2).

"Honestly, these girls have to trust in the process in all the work they've been putting in," Epenesa said. "We haven't reached that peak yet, and I guess that's the good news, but I think we have to start peaking."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].