Although the Castle softball team may be low in numbers, it is certainly not short on heart and that was evident in Saturday's 13-3 road win at Moanalua.

The Knights are exactly nine players strong. Yup, you read that right. Nine. Total. As in, just enough to fill out coach Jon Berinobis' lineup card each game. Nonetheless, they are 4-4 on the season and sit in fourth place in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I East standings with four games to play.

It's a testament to their resiliency and toughness — both of the physical and mental variety — which was on display for the 60 or so fans at Moanalua Saturday morning.

It was evident early when Shea Kealoha-Kauanui, the second batter to step up to the plate, was hit by the first pitch she saw from Moanalua's Jordan Snow. Kealoha-Kauanui then took second base on a wild pitch but was gunned down on a backdoor throw. The tag from Na Menehune third baseman Megan Oshiro was applied — inadvertently — to the helmet of Kealoha-Kauanui in a sweeping motion. The play left Kealoha-Kauanui on the ground for a bit and slow to recover, but she eventually got up and jogged back to the dugout while managing some emotions — and surely, some pain. Had she been unable to continue, the Knights would have been forced to finish the game with just eight players. Instead, she toughed it out, put a band-aid across her right eyebrow and kept playing.

Then, there was the performance of freshman pitcher Kacie Lam, who gave up singles to three of the first four batters she faced, resulting in a pair of Moanalua runs in the bottom of the first inning. However, Lam found her groove soon after, retiring the next nine batters she faced before Snow reached on an error in the bottom of the fourth.

"She did great," third baseman Kaylee Ishii said of Lam. "She pitched an amazing game."

Snow eventually came around to score to pull Na Menehune within a run of the Knights at 4-3, but Lam did not allow a runner past second base the rest of the way and got eight of the final nine batters she faced out. Lam ended up scattering five Moanalua hits over six innings and did not issue a walk.

"You know, for them having nine players, that's quality right there," Moanalua coach Kristie Morikawa said of Lam. "She gave, I think, she good innings last time we played them, too. She was mixing it up and she's going to have her wild pitches, but then she's going to get it back and make you hit something you don't want to hit. She's doing a good job. They're all doing a good job."

Ishii did her part at the plate by drawing three walks and powering a three-run home run to deep left field to account for all three of Castle's runs in the top of the fifth inning.

"That's one of my little bright stars, because she just started playing this game last year," Berinobis said of Lam. "It's her first time coming out for organized softball and she's been just absorbing everything. That was a good blow that helped us kind of get over that hump we talked about."

Overcoming obstacles is nothing new for this team, which even turned to the girls' tennis team for some help earlier this season. With right fielder/pitcher Asia Igafo unable to play in the season opener against Kaiser back on March 7, Berinobis "borrowed" Haley Hendricks — the sister of centerfielder Ariel — just to avoid forfeiting. She batted ninth and played right field in the 10-1 loss to the Cougars, and Berinobis hasn't required her services since.

Despite all the hardships this season, there have been no complaints from Berinobis and certainly none from his players.

"I tell the girls that they have to always believe that they can win, no matter who they're put on the field with, they can always win," Berinobis said.