Mililani head coach Rose Antonio, left, celebrates with the home crowd after a victory over Moanalua in the DataHouse/HHSAA Division I state championship at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The win marks the Lady Trojans' third consecutive title and sixth overall. CJ Caraang | SL

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[email protected] - CJ Caraang | SL

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MANOA - Once again, the road to the DataHouse Division I state softball championship passed through Meheula Parkway.

That is, if one could get through the freeway repair work westbound on the H-1.

The Trojans once again dominated all aspects of the game - pitching, hitting, and defense - to end Moanalua's hope of a storybook-ending season in a 9-3 win for their third consecutive and sixth overall crown Friday night at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. 

It meant a lot to the Trojans'  senior second baseman Kamryn Aoki, a member of all three title teams.

"I think it's awesome," Aoki said of capping her prep career with a third crown. "I love these girls' so much and there's no other group that I wish I could do it with."

Unlike the previous two tournaments, the Trojans entered unseeded after a semifinals loss to eventual OIA champion Campbell,. That result means losing the always-coveted first-round bye that is awarded to league champions only. They were not fazed by losing the bye. Trojans downed Lahainalua, 13-2, in a mercy-rule outcome; knocked off top-seeded Maryknoll, 14-4, in the quarterfinals; then swatted away D1 newbie Kapaa, the two-time defending Division II champions, in their closest contest of the tournament, until Friday, 12-6. For the championship, Na Menehune was the only opponent to keep the Trojans to under double-digit scoring.

This was Moanalua's deepest advancement in the state tournament. Coach Kylee Oshiro hopes the experience portends a brighter future for the softball program.

"Our team…I feel great. I'm so proud of these girls. Regardless of this outcome, the way they fought and being the first in the school history (to reach the final), this is a big accomplishment for them and we're young. We have to keep working at it, and we'll be back someday."

Young indeed. Moanalua's big contributors in the tourney were sophomores Alia Anzai (.714) and Kaylah Sato (.400). Each had seven RBI.

Na Menehune gave their faithful hope early, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Anzai.

But having been in the tournament the past two years, Mililani's experience showed. The Trojan wasted little time throwing a damper on Moanalua's hopes. In the bottom of the first, Hinano Bautista, crushed a two-run home run to left-center to erase the deficit.

"It feels amazing, it feels great," said Bautista, who led the tournament with a .733 batting average, four home runs and 12 RBI.

Bautista pulled double duty, pitching five strong innings, allowing three runs (one earned), six hit sand two walks, while striking out four. She also was a busy on defense, fielding five comebackers for outs, including a double play.

The Trojans insured their lead with three runs in the fourth inning (highlighted by Aubri Nakashima's two-run single and Kaylie Kihara's RBI single  and again in the fifth (Lana Nakayama's two-run single and Bautista's run-scoring single).

Moanalua mounted a threat in the top of the top of the fifth on Ava Atagi's two-run single. Both runs were unearned off Bautista because of a rare throwng error by shortstop Kahiau Aina, who snatched hits away by snagging two line drives.

Taylor Adriano pitched the final two innings of scoreless and hitless ball.

It was the fifth state title coached by Rose Antonio, a former Trojans and University of Hawaii player. After graduating from UH, she served as an assistant to Mike Okimoto for eight years. He led the school to its first state crown in 2005.  Antonio took over for him in 2006. All she wanted to do was return a favor to her community. Antonio said she started thinking about coaching toward the end of her playing days at UH. She added that she learned coaching from the then-head coach Bob Coolen and his assistant John Nakamura.

"So I just wanted to give back," Antonio said of her reason for wanting to be a coach.