New City Nissan Goodwill Softball Classic hits 20 year milestone

Team Leaf celebrate with their championship trophy in the 20th Annual New City Nissan Goodwill Softball Classic at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. CJ Caraang | SL

Two days of competition amongst the top graduating seniors in the state concluded with two televised games at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, with Team Leaf taking down Team Rogue to win the team title in the 20th edition of the New City Nissan Goodwill Softball Classic.

"it started as an evolution, then became a revoution, and then it became a hourehold name, and that's all we wanted," said New City Nissan president John Uekawa. "To just promote the young ladies of the state of Hawaii, which included the most important thing which is gender equity."

Lexi Muramoto (Iolani) was 4 for 4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI and Destiny Tautofi (PAC-5) hit a three-run home run and pitched three innings of relief to lead the way for Team Leaf, who racked up 13 hits en route to a 15-5 win.

"When I got selected I was surprised, but I was excited," said Tautofi of being selected for the Classic. "I knew I was going against the top players in the state and was excited to just compete with them because I don't get to see (a lot of) them during season."

Starter Kaiena Fuentes-Arellano put in three innings of work to earn the victory for Leaf, who saw the top of its order account for 10 of the 13 total hits.

In the third place game, Team Armada outslugged Team Pathfinder, 17-10, in a contest that saw nine doubles, a triple and three home runs come off the bats of both teams combined.

Karma Pestana pitched a complete game for Armada to take the win, and Keyra Moses-Fuller (Campbell) was the top offensive player with a 4 for 5 day at the plate with a double, three runs scored and an RBI.

The New City Nissan Goodwill Softball Classic, arguably one of the longest running postseason showcases in the state, has expanded over the years in many ways, including more participating players as well as a move from Central Oahu Regional Park to RWSS.

"(We) began with a backyard (atmosphere) and four fields, to making it an event that's very worthwhile for a lot of these young ladies," remarked Uekawa. "They look forward to it at the end of the year."