Leisha Li'ili'i drove in three runs and struck out Mysha Sataraka with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the seventh and Castle squeaked by Punahou, 10-9, Tuesday night in the opening-round action of the DataHouse Division I state softball tournament at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The Knights will play third-seeded Lahainaluna in a quarterfinal at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

The Buffanblu and Knights were relentless in a game that changed leads five times,

Castle blew leads of 2-1 and 7-6, but scratched back with a five-run fifth and three-run sixth.

Punahou played long ball with Jaci Young's three-run homer in the third and Sataraka's two-run shot in the fourth. It also played small ball with Kaylin Okuma's three bunt singles.

Trailing 6-2, the Knights scored five in the fifth. Li'ili'i's two-run single pulled Castle to 6-4. A double error tied the game at 6 and moved Li'ili'i to third, where she scored on an illegal pitch to put the Knights ahead, 7-6.

But Punahou came back with two in the bottom of the fifth on Vanessa Va'a's two-run single to take an 8-7 lead.

Against Punahou reliever Tai Manu-Olevao, the Knights rallied with three in the sixth.

Brittney Lane led off with a walk. Cristin Tesoro and Brittany-Ann Hawn followed with bunt singles to load the bases. Roblyn Silva's fielder's choice grounder forced a runner at third, but scored one to tie the game at 8. Li'ili'i's RBI double gave Castle a 9-8 lead and a wild pitch scored another to make it 10-8.

The Buffanblu weren't done fighting the bottom of the seventh against Li'ili'i. Pinch hitter Ari Hashimoto led off with a single and went to second on Okuma's bunt single. Va'a reached first when she grounded into a force play at third for the first out and Nicole Tamura lined out to short for the second. But Reina Furuya walked to load the bases to set up Kylie Popovich's walk that forced across a run. But Li'ili'i struck out Sataraka on what appeared to be an off-speed pitch to end the game.

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