CJ Caraang | SL

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CJ Caraang | SL

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For the first time since 2016, a OIA softball title is coming back to the valley.

Nanakuli rebounded nicely from a big third inning from Aiea, holding the Na Alii off the scoreboard the rest of way in a 9-5 victory and an OIA Division II championship in front of a near capacity crowd at McKinley High School softball stadium.

"It feels really good. Its a comeback for us from last year (a loss in the OIA D2 title game to Waipahu) where we didn't take it home, but we took it home this year," said Melody Makanaole-Baligad.

The Golden Hawks trailed for only the second time this year when Na Alii plated five runs off of four hits in the top of third, highlighted by a grand slam home run by Trinity Caporus-Santos. The five run outburst was the largest deficit for Nanakuli all year, with the only other game where Hawks trailed being a 5-1 gap against, no surprise, the same Aiea squad on March 23.

Despite the margin, Daniella Samson-Wright said their confidence in starter Makanaole-Baligad or their ability to comeback was unfazed.

"After that grand slam me and my team we was backing her (Makanaole-Baligad) up by motivating her and telling her come out of her comfort zone. After that she just got back in to it."

And it showed.

The Golden Hawks defense held Na Alii to just a single hit outside of the third inning and did not commit an error in the game. Makanaole-Baligad walked one in the first and three in the third, but just a single batter in her final four innings of work.

"I couldn't have done this without my defense behind me," said Makanaole-Baligad. "I believe in all these girls."

Nanakuli also responded offensively in the bottom half of that very inning, plating four runs on three hits, which included a big triple to right by Daniella Samson-Wright that sparked the rally.

"I felt really confident in what I had to do today to help my team win," said Samson-Wright, who was 3 for 4 on the afternoon. "It was a really close game the last time we played, and our hitting wasn't that great but we practiced and worked, and it showed out on the field that we deserved it."

Another run in the fourth, this one a double off the bat of Samson-Wright, tied up the game and a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings made the gap a bit more comfortable heading into the top of the seventh.

The catalyst for the two insurance runs in the sixth? None other than Samson-Wright once again, who singled up the middle and came home to score a batter later off of Haley Flint's triple to right.

Two huge defensive stops in the seventh, one a diving catch in foul territory by the first baseman Jhanz Kaawa-Kawai and the other an on-the-run catch by Lori Ferreira for out number two, all but sealed the outcome for Na Alii.

"We was super hyped, we was wanting to get those outs. The faster we get those outs, the faster we can get out of here!" laughed Samson-Wright.

Both teams are headed to the HHSAA Divsion II state tournament, set to start on May 2 at McKinley High School.