Brooke Sauer is congratulated by teammates at home after hitting a homerun against Punahou. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Katelyn Mahelona slides into home safely ahead of Punahou catcher Sara Jinee Buck's tag. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kamalani Dung makes a pitch against Punahou. Dung pitched for all 7 innings and only allowed 2 hits and struck out 7. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MAKIKI – It didn’t take long for Kamehameha to get back into the win column. 

Kamehameha, ranked No. 1 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Softball Power Rankings, improved to 7-1 in Division I Interscholastic League of Honolulu play with a 6-0 win over Punahou Wednesday afternoon. Preceding the game was a continuation of a Mar. 8 game between the two squads. The Buffanblu ended up winning that game, 4-1, to finish with a 5-4 record once the day was done. 

“They did awesome. It was a good team effort, everyone came out to compete,” Kamehameha coach Aloha Yamaguchi said. “It’s kind of (a) different circumstance with that first continuation, but we definitely moved on from that one and came out hard in the second game.”

Pitching a complete game for the Warriors was Xeana “Kamalani” Dung who picked up the win by allowing just two hits. Dung also stuck out seven batters while walking just three.

“The pitch calling is coming together along with my pitching and I’m getting back into it,” said Dung. “I would like to give this win to my team because when they believe in me, I believe in myself. When the coaches (and) the girls believe in me, I work really hard for them and they work really hard for me.”

The Warriors’ defense definitely supported Dung’s effort on the mound, never giving up a hit until the final out of the bottom of the sixth.

“I know for a fact this was a whole team win,” said Dung after the game. “I’m really proud of our girls because they all did their job.”

Kamehameha’s defense wasn’t the only thing that was on point as the offensive turned in a seven hit, six run effort to go along in the shutout.

“We were able to make things happen when runners got on. We came up with some big hits, capitalizing (on our) runners when we needed to,” said Yamaguchi.

Brooke Sauer got things going for the Warriors with a leadoff homer to right field to make the score 1-0 early in the top of the second. That lead quickly blossomed to 4-0 after a three-run effort in the third inning. 

Kamehameha’s Katelyn Mahelona led the third inning off with a single down the middle of the Buffanblu defense. After Rachel Ogasawara moved her over on a sacrificial bunt, Mahelona scored after stealing home. This came after Rachel Dumlao reached base safely on a fielder’s choice. 

Dumalao was later brought home thanks to a Christine Hipa fly to center field. Hipa was able to reach first base thanks to her fly ball going in and out of the glove of Punahou center fielder Elyse Nakamoto. Bringing home Hipa for the final run of the third was Kaleihoku Kaneshiro with her shot to left field.

“All of the team, all the girls, they’re pretty hot,” Dung said on the team’s offensive production. “(In) the beginning of the season we actually all started off all kind of low. As the season is progressing, it looks like we’re getting better and better.” 

Kamehameha scored two more runs in the top of the sixth to pad their lead. Ateisha Norton led the sixth inning off by getting walked by Punahou pitcher Nicole Nishizawa. Dung brought Norton home a batter later for the Warriors’ fifth run of the game. She would also go on to record the final run of the day thanks to a single from Kiana Burnett. 

Punahou got late hits from Nakamoto and Nishizawa, but could never really sustain any offense as they fell 6-0.

“It’s a really big win for us because if we loss we wouldn’t (be the) top seed for (the) ILH. Second of all, I think the girls really needed this because we all needed to come together,” said Dung.

The Buffanblu will play Pac-Five on Apr. 5 while Kamehameha takes on No. 8 Iolani next Monday.