All smiles for Leilehua's Mahealani Calizo after she belted a three-run home run in the top of the third inning. Michael Lasquero | SL

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MANOA – Timing is everything.

No. 7 Leilehua, which lost three meetings to Lahainaluna during preseason, took down the Lunas 4-0, in the opening round of the DataHouse Division I state softball tournament Tuesday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The Mules (8-9) will play No. 1 and top-seeded Kapolei at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday.  The Hurricanes beat the Mules, 15-5 and 7-4, during the regular season.

Mahealani Calizo drove in all of the Mules' runs with an RBI single and three-run home run to back the strong pitching of Stalcup, who scattered six hits and pitched out of two jams.

"It feels good," Stalcup said. "We lost to Lahaina three times in preseason, so we worked hard and we knew what we were getting ourselves into."

The Mules scored in the top of the first off losing pitcher Taylor Asio (7 innings, four runs (three earned), six hits, two walks, six strikeouts). Reilyenne Nahulu reached second when right fielder Giovanna Johnson dropped a fly ball and scored on Calizo's single to right; Calizo took second when Johnson had trouble fielding the ball, but was eventually stranded there.

In the third, Chelsea Lobitos and Nahulu hit back-to-back singles to start the inning and scored on Calizo's drive over the left field fence to make it 4-0.

"I've been waiting for that for a while now," Calizo said of her second homer of the season. "I was just waiting for the right (pitch) and I went for it."

Calizo took advantage of a mistake pitch.

"The movement didn't happen that we needed to happen," Lahainaluna coach Lei Nakamura said. "That's just something we have to take care of."

The Lunas (9-3), the Maui Interscholastic League runner-up, threatened to score twice off Stalcup. In the third, Elikapeka Garcia tripled to left, but was doubled off third after Nohili Hong lined out to second. Stalcup got the next batter to pop out to end the inning.

The in the fourth, the Lunas and second and third with one out, but Asio lined out to the pitcher and Stalcup struck out Dianery Talaroc-Kaniho to end the threat.

"I had confidence in my defense," Stalcup said. "I knew they were going to pick me up. I just through to myself, ‘Don't pressure out because if I pressure out, it's going to be much more worse that it could've been."

Nakamura said her batters reported a lot of movement on Stalcup's pitches.

"It was just not recognizing what to attack and what to lay off of," Nakamura.

Nakamura could not explain her team's dominance of the Mules in preseason.

"I don't want to speak in a negative way, but I hope for us, I could say we were peaking," she said. "Unfortunately, we peaked already. We're at a plateau. We just couldn't find that extra inside to push past all obstacles in front of them.  Not just them. Even for (us coaches), we're sitting down and putting our heads together and trying to make the best decisions that we can as far as putting the lineup out there."

Lahainaluna will play in a 4 p.m. Wednesday in a consolation-bracket game at McKinley.