Brian Bautista | SL

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Brian Bautista | SL

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SALT LAKE—PAC-5 keeps its title defense alive as Dahlia Gangano's walk off single lifted the Wolfpack past Waimea, 9-8 at Moanalua's field Friday morning.

In a rematch of last year's title game, the ILH champions and second seeded Wolfpack (11-2-1 overall) bested the Menehunes (6-8 overall) in the semifinals and will take on the tournament's top seed and KIF champion Kapaa at 4:30 pm at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

"It feels really good, our team bonds well and I'm glad I'm part of this team," Gangano said.

In the Pearl City bracket, the top seeded Warriors took a 6-0 lead after two innings and pulled away with three more runs to beat fourth seed and OIA champion Aiea, 11-4.

After the Menehunes tied up the game at 8 with five runs of their own in the sixth, the Wolfpack made a defensive stand in the seventh as Alia Lazaro and Nia Pablo popped out to Naomi Emi Yamane and Miya Yoshioka and Nakaya grounded out to second.

"The final inning was nerve-wracking. We had to shut them down on defense and I'm glad we did that since we were the home team, we had the advantage. I'm glad we got to win," Gangano said.

In the bottom of the seventh Myla Supapaia led off and reached on an error and Yamane moved her over with a sacrifice bunt. Gangano poked her single through the right gap to score Suapaia to end the game.

"I was really pumped up. I wouldn't say I was nervous, I really wanted to hit that ball. So I was I like, ‘I needed to hit that ball'," Gangano said.

The Wolfpack overcame five fielding errors and trailed early on as the Menehunes scored their first run in the third.

Mauliola Zuttermeister went 2 for 3 and drilled a two RBI home run to left field and Kate Iida laced an RBI single for a 3-1 lead.

Shelcee Nakaya (2-for-4) and Taelor Camelo (2-for-3) singled and scored off of Leici-Mae Camara's single and Nakeisha Olivas-Dominguez's sacrifice fly to tie the game at 3 in the fifth.

PAC-5 responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Sofia Chiavetta singled to left field and the Wolfpack loaded the bases, Yoshioka scored off a wild pitch and PAC-5 walked in a pair of runs to take a 8-3 lead.

Lazaro chipped away with a two RBI home run to left field, Pablo reached on an error and Camelo drove in two more runs to trail, 8-7. Kaelyn Banquel tied up the game with a sacrifice fly.

Yoshioka (6-0) pitched a complete game to pick up the win with a pair of strikes and walks.

Camelo (3-5) struck out five and walked seven as eight of the nine runs were earned in the loss.

Waimea was seeking a third-straight title game appearance.

Kapaa will be seeking its first state title since 2022 while PAC-5 is seeking back-to-back title wins since 2010-2011.