Sophomore Ailana Agbayani (left) looks to lead the defending state champions as Iolani takes on Darian Kanno (right) and Mid-Pacific Saturday morning. ScoringLive photo illustration

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As freshmen last season, teammates Ailana Agbayani and Allie Capello made quite the splash for the Iolani softball team.

The Raiders, of course, went on to win it all — their first state championship since 2000 — and the pair were the only two freshmen to earn All-Hawaii honors; both selected to the First Team.

Now, as a couple of seasoned sophomores, Agbayani and Capello will be expected to lead the way for the defending champs.

"They're gonna have to step up because they're going to be carrying most of the team with the pitching, so I think they have to step up and try to lead by example to try and lead this team," said Benny Agbayani, who guided Iolani to a 19-5 record and the program's third overall state title in his first season as head coach.

Capello and Ailana Agbayani will be looked to fill in the leadership void that was left behind with the graduation of six seniors from a year ago, including three All-Hawaii players in Second Team third baseman Kalena Markham and First Teamers, catcher Kailyn Barrett, and utility player Aleia Agbayani — Ailana's older sister and Benny's oldest of three children.

"We got a lot of young kids on our team and we've got only two seniors (second baseman/outfielder Rylie Wada and first baseman Taylor Kai) this year," Benny Agbayani said. "We've got four girls who were starters coming back from last year's team and we've got some freshmen that will help, too."

Those freshmen would be the trio of third baseman Harley Acosta and utility players Kaylee Matsuda and Keely Kai.

"Kaylee can play anywhere and Keely plays all over, too, and that makes it easier for me as a coach; You want that kind of players on the team," Agbayani said.

Another freshmen expected to contribute is Kiara Baba, who will share pitching duties with Ailana Agbayani and Capello.

"She's gonna have to step up also," said Agbayani, who noted that there are no defined roles amongst his trio of options in the circle.

Not yet, anyway.

"We're just gonna play it game-by game. We've got three pitchers, but pitching is gonna be the key for us," Agbayani said. "We lost some power from last year, but I think we gained a lot of speed."

Iolani had no problems in its Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener Wednesday as it trounced Sacred Hearts, 26-1, in a game called after five innings due to the mercy rule.

Agbayani, however, isn't expecting many of those types of scores in the ILH this season.

"I think the ILH is gonna be a dogfight. I think every game is gonna be a battle. I think whoever plays the best and whoever shows up that day is gonna win, but it's gonna be a tough season in the ILH this year," he said.

While the Raiders (1-0) are a young squad, their opponent Saturday — Mid-Pacific — is a veteran-laden group. The Owls (0-1) return 10 players from last year's team that posted a 10-7 record in ILH play.

"We only lost one senior from last year, so expectations are very high with this group; it's a very talented bunch of girls," Mid-Pacific second-year coach Aiko Gojo said.

The one player the Owls lost to graduation, Lea Hanawahine, was one of two All-ILH first team all-stars a season ago. The other is outfielder Mahea Perkins, who returns for her senior season.

Jenna Wong collected second team All-ILH honors as a sophomore third baseman last year and four others — Marissa Nishihara, Keao Takemura, Darian Kanno and Zoe Oshiro — received honorable mention.

Kanno, a junior, will be looked to step into the role of No. 1 pitcher.

"I think with Lea gone we're relying on Darian a lot more this year than last year and I think she understands that," Gojo said.

Fellow juniors Alyssa Nakagawa and Sami Taga provide depth behind Kanno in the circle.

"Those two can come in for Darian, but we'd like to see how far she can go," said Gojo, who noted that Kanno has shown improvement in a number of areas.

"Hitting spots, for sure, becoming a smarter pitcher — less walks — so we've seen a lot of growth from last year already," she explained.

Gojo said that team is well ahead of where it stood a year ago, her first season in charge of the program.

"As far as familiarity, a whole lot better than this time last year. All of the coaches came back so we're pretty familiar with the players already and comfortable, so that's a good thing; this time last year we were still learning. I think this year we're starting off and they have more confidence," Gojo said. "I think not making it to states last year was rough on them, so that's the goal."

Mid-Pacific won six of its first seven games out of the gate last season, but wound up dropping five of their final eight down the stretch.

"The ILH is gonna be tough. It's always gonna be tough, but this year anybody can win it," Gojo said.

The Owls are coming off of a tough opening loss to Maryknoll Wednesday. They came back from a four-run deficit with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but ultimately fell short to the Spartans, 9-7, in eight innings.

"There's still some things we need to clean up, but we battled, so that was good," Gojo said.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Iolani.