Kaiser's Kayla Russell tracks down a fly ball in the right field for a key out against Castle. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kaiser's Baileu Gongob heads to first base after connecting with a pitch against Castle. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Castle's Nise Carlise makes a throw to home plate against Kaiser. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kaiser's Seli Aholelei gets set to throw a pitch to the plate against Castle. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Bolstered by a strong outing by a substitute starting pitcher, a nine-run outburst in the third inning and a game-ending catch in the outfield by a freshman reserve, Kaiser improved to 6-1 on the season with a 10-0 win over visiting Castle (2-3), a game that was shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule.

Seli Aholelei, who got the nod in the circle in place of usual starter and fellow sophomore Crystal Ching-Lake, was nothing short of dominant against the Knights, allowing just two hits in five innings of work, striking out seven and walking just one to earn the victory.

"I was kind of nervous at first, but it was kind of a good nervous," remarked Aholelei on getting the start, but any nerves certainly didn't appear in her performance on the mound.

The sophomore retired nine of the first ten batters she faced, including a streak of four by way of strikeout during that stretch.

"She did really well, her changeup was working, and her riseball was working, so basically that was all she really needed," commented Kaiser head coach Mitch Matsumoto on the performance of his starting pitcher.

Already leading 1-0 thanks to a RBI single by Chelsea Soong in the second inning, the Cougars broke the game wide open in the bottom of the third inning, as five of the first six batters touched up Castle starter Brandee Lane for base hits that drove in a trio of runners to push the margin to 4-0.

A Castle fielding error on the next at-bat allowed two more runs to cross the plate, and a bases loaded walk two batters later extended the margin to 7-0. The Knights brought in a relief pitcher, but just could not seem to stop the momentum, and Kaiser added three more runs before a diving catch of a line shot by Castle's Chelsea Aweau ending a string of fifteen consecutive batters for the Cougars.

"We felt confident about our hitting, but we were kind of concerned about her (Lane's) insiders, cause she had some really nice pitches," said Aholelei. "But we pushed through and got our singles."

"We practice hitting everyday, and try to instill to us that we have to get at least 10 hits a game," said Matsumoto.

Kaiser surprisingly amassed just seven hits, each coming off the bat of a different player. Eight different Cougars' baserunners crossed the plate, with Kai Hasegawa and Marissa Oda each scoring twice.

The Knights' best chance to get back in the game came in the fifth, as Kalehua Zuttermeister drew a two-out walk and Aweau followed with a single just inside of the bag at third to put runners at first and second. That set the stage for Darrien Dacosin, who roped a tailing shot towards the line in right field that looked destined to drop in for a hit.

Fortunately for the home team Cougars, a hard-charging Kayla Russell made a spectacular lunging grab to end the Knights' best chance at getting on the scoreboard, and perhaps, back into the game.

"At that point I was like, to me it felt like the win or lose run right there, and I just had to catch it," said Russell about the play. "So I just ran my hardest. I just really wanted to catch that ball."

"That was a surprise to me," said Matsumoto of the catch made by Russell. "That's not her position, so it was a surprising situation. She made the play so that was good."

Russell is the youngest member of the Kaiser softball squad, and just celebrated her birthday a day ago.

"My birthday was yesterday, so they (my teammates) were all like, 'this is what you wished for didn't you'' and I was like yeah," laughed Russell.

The out retired the side for Castle in the fifth, preserving the shutout and in the process, invoked the ten-run mercy rule.

Kaiser pulled even with Moanalua  at 6 wins and 1 loss with 5 games left on the schedule, and the battle for the top seed in the East looks to heading down to the wire.

"We want to punch out, we want to win every game," said Matsumoto.