Moanalua's Kyler Tsukada pitched a no-hitter with seven strikeouts in a win over Kailua. Steve Erler | Special to SL

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Moanalua's Taylor Takushi was 3-for-4 on the afternoon with a triple, a home run, 2 runs scored and 5 RBIs in a win over Kailua. Steve Erler | Special to SL

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SALT LAKE — Moanalua busted out the bats and Kyler Tsukada took care of the rest on a successful "senior night" Thursday afternoon.

Tsukada tossed a no-hitter and Taylor Takushi's five-RBI day helped Moanalua to a convincing 10-0 win in five innings over visiting Kailua in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I East game.

Na Menehune pounded out 12 hits and played a clean defensive game to improve to 6-4. It was their second straight win and fourth in their last five games and quite the turnaround from a 12-3 loss to the Surfriders back on March 21.

"I think we knew, from the first time we played them, what we did wrong," Moanalua coach Kristie Morikawa said. "It all happened in the first inning and it was a matter of nerves and kids being young and I think we knew going into this that it wasn't something that we couldn't get done, so I'm happy to see that we're turning the corner and coming around."

Tsukada, a freshman right-hander, was masterful in the pitching circle to improve to 5-2 on the season. She struck out eight batters, walked one and did not allow a runner past second base. She faced just one more batter than the minimum.

"The past two games she's just been unconscious," Morikawa said of Tsukada. "It's super good to see being that she's a freshman. She's kind of figuring out how to calm it all down, get herself on a good level and to compete."

Tsukada seemingly got stronger as the game progressed, striking out the final three batters she faced in the top of the fifth.

"She was excellent," said Takushi, a junior centerfielder. "She's been putting in a lot of work. I'm so proud of her. She's growing so much as a person and as a player."

Meanwhile, Na Menehune offense was clicking on all cylinders. They threatened in the bottom of the first inning, when it loaded the bases, but failed to score. Makamae Kaleikini, who struck out in her first at-bat, lined a triple to the left field fence that scored the game's first run in Genice Gabriel in the bottom of the second.

Takushi led off the third with a solo home run to right field and drove in another run with her one-out, bases-loaded single to score Gabriel. Summer Kamioka followed with a ground ball out that allowed Rheyl Arakawa-Lee to score and Kaleikini came on a wild pitch to make it a 5-0 Moanalua lead.

Iyana Reed cranked a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the fifth and Takushi belted a triple down the left field line that brought in Britney Lee-Saiki, Arakawa-Lee and Kaleikini to extend the lead to 9-0. One batter later, Kamioka singled to left to plate Takushi for the 10th run, consequently ending the game due to the mercy rule.

"We just weren't really to play," Kailua coach Tamara Kaluau said. "The girls didn't come ready and they struggled with certain things and that's what happens. They came flat and with no intensity. I'm not sure what happened in today's game, but not to take anything away from Moanalua because they improved. Their pitcher was a lot more controlled from the first time we played them and they were hitting."

Moanalua's top of the order — Kaleikini, Takushi and Kamioka — combined to go 8 of 12 at the plate with eight RBI.

"The three of them are just really competitive and they know what their job is at the top of the order, so they know that with every at-bat that goes by, they have a chance to influence the next person as well as the next at-bat," Morikawa said. "They're just very heady players, so you might get them once, but the next time they're going to try and do something different, so it's good to see them doing that, too."

Dyani Cummings-Lani took the loss for the Surfriders (7-3), who saw their three-game win streak snapped with the loss.

Both teams return to action Saturday. Moanalua will host Roosevelt (6-4) at 3 p.m., while Moanalua will take on division-leading Kaiser (10-0) in a 5 p.m. televised game (OC16) at Patsy T. Mink/Central Oahu Regional Park.