D1 newbie Kapaa flexes muscle in win against Kapolei

Kela Wheeler | SL

KAKAAKO - The young Kapaa Warriors made McKinley's Tiger Soft Stadium their play pen in the first round of the DataHouse Division I softball tournament Tuesday night.

Sophomore Andie Iglesia batted 3 for 3 with a home run, two doubles, and five RBI in the No 8 Warriors' 14-4 win against OIA West power Kapolei.

Iglesia, who bats leadoff, was on base all four plate appearances. She led off the game with a walk and scored on Charlize Kenney's home run to center.

"She's a solid, consistent performer," Kapaa coach Blair Yamashita said Iglesias. "She is just hitting her stride right now; she was hurt for a portion of the year, but that's what she brings. She stands taller not only at practice, but on her own home, working on her craft and perfecting it as much as possible, and it shows on the big stage at the big moment."

The Warriors (13-0) will play fourth-seeded Waiakea in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Wednesday at McKinley.

It was Kapaa's Division I debut after capturing the D2 title nearly a year ago.

Keeping up with the youth theme, freshman pitcher Presley Gibson overcame allowing a first-inning solo home run to Kapolei's Skyla Saito before retiring the next seven batters in a row. She faltered a bit in the top of the fifth, when Kapolei was able to string a walk and three consecutive hits for three runs, but by that time Kapaa already had a commanding 8-0 lead. But the Warriors cushioned their lead with five in the bottom of the frame to make it 13-4. Kapaa got that 10th run differential on freshman pinch hitter Isabel Capistran Nakagoshi's two out solo homer to end the game.

"This is so exciting" Iglecias said of her big night that ended with her placing the team logo sticker on the tournament bracket. "I'd like to thank Kauai, especially, that's a dream come true."

After winning consecutive D2 state titles, Yamashita felt the program was ready to step up to the plate against the best the state has to offer.

"We felt we wanted to stake a claim to be one of the better programs in the state," Yamashita said, "so the only way to do that was to challenge best. We already have a kind of D1 schedule in the preseason. We played in the Mililani tournament and even the Waimea tournament, so we face a lot of D-1 competition, but then it's throughout the year and kind of maintaining that level of intensity because we're the only D1 team in the KIF and then try to turn it back on for state tournament time."

Yamashita showed faith in his younger players. In the third inning, pitcher Gibson said she turned her ankle on her landing leg on a 2-2 pitch to Starlie Saito. Off-balanced, the pitch resulted in a ball, but her next pitch was a called strike three.

"Our freshman pitcher, she didn't look like it," Yamashita said "She performed like an upperclassman. She had a little injury that she overcame, but she powered through that and gave us several scoreless innings from the second on until the fifth."

After serving up the first-inning home run to Skyla Saito, it didn't take long for her teammates to give her a boost. Senior Charlize Kenney smashed a twoi-run homer to center to give the Warriors a lead they would not relinquish.

"My team had my back," Gibson said. "It feels so good."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].