Kaena Nistal (right) belted a three-run home run and drove in five runs to lift Leilehua to the semifinals. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Leilehua junior Alyssa Abe (right) allowed one earned run and notched two strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings of relief. She was responsible for stranding seven Maryknoll runners. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MANOA — Kaena Nistal belted a three-run home run and drove in a total of five runs to lift No. 3 Leilehua to a 10-5 win over No. 8 Maryknoll in the quarterfinal round of the DataHouse/HHSAA Division I Softball State Championships at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium Wednesday evening.

The Mules, who finished third in the Oahu Interscholastic Association, improved to 13-4 on the season and advanced to Thursday's tournament semifinals, where they will face ninth-ranked Mililani at 4:30 p.m.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion and tournament No. 2 seed Spartans fell to 11-6 and will play third-seeded Waiakea in a fifth-place semifinal at 2 p.m. at McKinley.

Three different players paired hits for Leilehua, which rapped out nine as a team and benefited from 12 walks issued by Maryknoll pitching.

"It was a team effort," Mules first-year coach Wendell Au said. "I mean, you know what, state tournament, pull out all the stops. That's all I have to say and sometimes you gotta keep them at bay to let their heart just roar. It's a tough job. Sometimes people are not happy with just holding back, but sometimes you gotta feed that fire too."

Brandi Leong kicked things off with a home run over the left field fence and ended up batting 2 for 3 with two walks and three runs scored from the lead off spot.

"She just keeps getting on base and doing her job," Au said of Leong, one of eight seniors on the team.

After Leong's solo homer, Kayla Hale singled then went station to station after three consecutive free passes from Spartans' starting pitcher Kahilu McNicoll.

The Mules put a pair of runners aboard in the top of the second before McNicoll got Gianna Araki to strike out for the second out. Nistal, the next batter up, worked the count to 2-2 then fouled off a couple of pitches before crushing the next pitch to straight away center field.

"I had to look in because that's what I really need to work on — because pitchers would jam me — so when I saw that inside (pitch), I had to just swing at it and it just went," Nistal said. "It felt pretty good because I helped the team."

Au praised Nistal's two-strike approach in the at-bat.

"She was tough with two (strikes on her), even getting behind 0-2, so that's all I ask of these girls: stay tough with two, keep their head up and stay disciplined at the plate," Au said.

Leilehua junior Alyssa Abe (right) allowed one earned run and notched two strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings of relief. She was responsible for stranding seven Maryknoll runners. Greg Yamamoto | SL    Purchase image

Maryknoll sent eight batters to the plate in the bottom half of the inning and scored four runs on two-run singles by Nohea Hee and Kanoe Tanigawa to pull within a run of Leilehua.

Leilehua starting pitcher Kamryn Kamakaiwi exited the game with one out in the bottom of the second in favor of Alyssa Abe. Kamakaiwi, who previously attended Maryknoll and whose younger sister Sydney — whom she beaned — batted sixth and played third base for the Spartans Wednesday, allowed one earned run and two walks in her shortest outing of the season.

"I think it was just nerves," Au said. "I mean, that's her former school, she's facing her sister and it's a big game. But other than that, these girls held up well and it's definitely a team win because I fully utilized my whole roster."

Abe allowed one earned run on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings of relief. She was responsible for seven Maryknoll runners left on base.

"Going into the states I asked my coaching staff to be proactive, to keep me updated on the condition of these pitchers coming off the field, seeing their interaction and things like that, so far as that was concerned we went with the pitch count and I knew she was up there already and so was Abe, so I was just going to maximize the pitchers as much as possible," Au said. "These girls they lay it on the line for the team and that's all you can ask for from a pitcher so I'm just truly blessed."

Leilehua sandwiched single runs in the fourth and sixth innings around a three-spot in the fifth, when Pomai Nahulu picked up a pinch hit RBI-single and Nistal drove in two more runs with her two-out single to left field.

"We came in and we were just so flat and maybe Leilehua turned us into being flat, but I thought we had it going for a little while when were down 5-4, but they pounded on us and that's the sign of a championship team," Spartans coach John Uekawa said.

Maryknoll scored its only other run in the bottom of the fifth on Aloha Akaka's RBI-sacrifice fly to score Sydney Kamakaiwi, but by then Leilehua's lead was 9-5.

Nistal moved to the pitching circle for the final two frames and retired all six batters she faced, including three strikeouts. It was her first pitching appearance since Apr. 27, when she was tagged for five runs — only one of them earned — on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings pitched in a loss to Roosevelt in the OIA semifinals.

"I felt confident because at those times I can't think about myself and think like, ‘Oh, I can't do this because I haven't been pitching.' I have to think about my team and just make plays for them," Nistal said.

Au said using all three pitchers was definitely a part of the game plan.

"There's no doubt in my mind coming into this I was going to utilize them as much as possible, all three of them," Au said. "I've been blessed to have multiple pitchers and different styles, so I'm going to use them as much as I can throughout the state championships."

Nistal described the trio as a tight-knit unit.

"Us three pitchers, we have really good chemistry and we've played with each other since we were in Bobby Sox — which is when we were eight (years old) — so we're like sisters and once one goes down we know we can pick each other up," Nistal said.

Abe picked up the win, her first of the season, while McNicoll was charged with the loss after allowing six runs on four hits with five strikeouts and nine walks. Akaka went 2 1/3 innings and surrendered four runs on five hits with three walks.

Ultimately, Uekawa said the dozen free passes were too much to overcome.

"That creates havoc, and all (Leilehua) did was put ball in play and make good contact on a couple of them, (but) man, they rocketed some home runs today," Uekawa said.

Thursday's semifinal will mark the third meeting between Leilehua and Mililani this season. Mililani won the first game, 5-3, back on March 10 before Leilehua took the rematch on April 17, 11-0, in five innings.