Campbell pounds Leilehua, 9-2; earns state berth


'EWA BEACH - Campbell sent 11 batters to the plate in a five-run second inning to pound Leilehua, 9-2, Tuesday in a quarterfinal of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red softball tournament at the Sabers' field.

The Sabers will meet East champion Castle in one semifinal, 4 p.m. Thursday at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park. In the other semifinal at 6 p.m., East runner-up Kailua will play West sixth seed Mililani.

In other quarterfinals Tuesday, Mililani stunned West champion Kapolei, 4-2, East runner-up Kailua beat Wai'anae, 2-0, and Castle edged Pearl City, 6-5.

Tuesday's winners have secured berths to the Division I state tournament. The losers move to the fifth-place bracket games. Wai'anae will travel to Kapolei and Pearl City will host Leilehua. Both games are 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The winners play for fifth place at 3:30 p.m. at the higher-seeded team's home site.

The top six teams earn state berths.

The Sabers jumped on Mules' starter Maegan Tupinio for seven runs and 13 hits in four innings. Of the 11 to bat in the five-run second, seven had hits. Kayce Konohia, who was 3 for 3, had the first and seventh hit in the inning. Daylene Antonio had a two-run single, while Kawehi Kapana and Nicole Arata (3 for 4) added RBI singles. Sharae Esprecion's sacrifice fly scored the first run of the inning.

Campbell added single runs in the third and fourth innings to make it 7-0. They scored twice in the fifth and could've ended the game on the 10-run mercy rule, but left a runner in scoring position to end the inning.

Collette Black had the only extra-base hit for the Sabers, a bloop double in the fifth.

Summer Palipti tossed five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Esprecion, who started the game at second base, pitched the final two innings, allowing two runs.

The tournament takes a day off Wednesday before resuming semifinals and fifth-place semifinal games on Thursday. The championship semifinals will be broadcast live on OC16.


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].