Mid-Pacific's Taylor Ann Oda swings at a pitch against Maryknoll. Brandon Ching | SL

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Maryknoll pitcher Shearyna Labasan winds up for a pitch against Mid-Pacific. Brandon Ching | SL

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Maryknoll eliminated defending ILH and Division I state champion Mid-Pacific in the ILH postseason tournament at Sand Island Park. It was redemption for the Lady Spartans as the Owls beat them in an April 8th regular season affair, 2-1.

It was all pitching and defense for the first three and a half innings, until Maryknoll got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning as Tamia Hirano hit an RBI single allowing Carolann Toyama to score.

"We always tell the girls that hitting will win games, but defense and pitching will win championships. I think we played a pretty stellar defensive game today," said Maryknoll coach John Uekawa.

Starter Shearyna Labasan rebounded from a rough outing in her last game against Iolani, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out three and walking four.

"I think all of my pitches were working today, maybe not all at the right time, but I got it to work as the game progressed. We just played as a team and tried to back each other up. We made some errors here and there, but we tried not to let that affect us and we bounced back and played hard," said Labasan.

Mid-Pacific answered back in the fifth inning as Lindsey Matoi hit an RBI single to the left outfield bringing in Taylor Takushi for the run to tie it up at 1.

However, Maryknoll vaulted back into the lead in the bottom of the inning, as Bree Soma came home to score on a Shayna Ige base knock, making it 2-1.

In the sixth inning, Toyama added another run for the Lady Spartans off of a sacrificial fly from Erica Inagaki.

Mid-Pacific ends their season at 10-7. Despite losing a number of key players from their championship team to graduation, this year's squad was very competitive in the rugged ILH.

"They are very team-oriented and they are very professional about everything they do and I applaud them," said Uekawa on Mid-Pacific.

"I'm proud of the way they played and Shearyna is one of the top pitchers in the state and we tried to do what we could, but fell short. I told them at the beginning of the year that everyone isn't counting on us to do well and our goal was to prove everyone wrong and I am proud of the way they played," said Mid-Pacific coach Alan Inaba.

Maryknoll (13-4) advances and will play Punahou, who defeated 'Iolani, 5-4, for the league's final berth to the state tournament at Punahou.

"Everything is always momentum and I feel that tight games and being able to make clutch defensive plays and hits brings championships, so we're looking forward to tomorrow's game," said Uekawa.