Aliya Harmon pitched a five-hitter with four strikeouts and went 2 for 4 with a three-run homer and four RBIs to help the unseeded Bears improve to 12-5 and advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 2009.

 

L.B. Kahahawai-Kekona went 4 for 5 with a double, RBI and three runs scored, Saree-Ann Kekahuna and Bryana Yoshida each went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and Alyssa Ferreira went 2 for 2 with an RBI for Baldwin, which had 17 hits overall. 

 

Kekahuna's two-run homer in the top of the first inning gave the Bears a quick 2-0 lead, but the Sabers (15-1) answered in the bottom half of the inning with Alesia Ranches' solo home run and Jayden Pacheco scored on a wild pitch in the third inning to tie it at 2-2. Baldwin then scored four runs with two outs in the fourth inning, on RBI single by Ferreira, Kahahawai-Kekona, Harmon and Avei Siliaiva to take a 6-2 lead.

 

The Bears made it 7-2 in the fifth on Yoshida's run-scoring double down the right field line, then effectively sealed the victory in the seventh with Yoshida's bloop RBI single to right-center field and Harmon's opposite-field line drive three-run homer that barely cleared the fence in left-center.

 

The Sabers had won all 15 regular season and postseason games entering the state quarterfinals.