Things are looking up for the Moanalua softball team.

Kristie Morikawa's bunch have turned it around after a 2-3 start to the season, having won four of its last five games, including back-to-back shutout victories over Roosevelt Saturday and Kailua Thursday.

Moanalua played perhaps its best game of the season Thursday in a 10-0 rout of the Surfriders, a team that was two games ahead in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I East standings entering the game.

Having lost eight players to graduation last year, Morikawa knew it would take some time to rebuild with an almost entirely brand-new squad. How fast they've matured, however, has been a pleasant surprise.

"We asked them to grow up really quickly," said Morikawa, who has seven freshman on her team this season. "You do have four years, but why wait, you know?"

Na Menehune's youth was on display Thursday and there was no better example than freshman pitcher Kyler Tsukada, who threw a five-inning no-hitter against a Kailua lineup that is not short on big bats.

"I didn't realizeI had a no-hitter," Tsukada said. "It feels really good and I have to thank my team for backing me up, because most of the plays, I felt like they did it and I just pitched the ball."

Tsukada did not allow a base runner past second and faced just one more than the minimum required. She struck out eight batters and allowed just one walk.

"I kind of just wanted to pitch strikes out of the strike zone and make them reach for it," Tsukada said.

Earlier this season, Morikawa said her team's success would largely depend upon the production of its two lone returning starters in catcher Makamae Kaleikini and centerfielder Taylor Takushi. Both juniors factored into Thursday's win — Kaleikini batted 2 for 4 with a triple, RBI and two runs scored and Takushi went 3 for 4 with five RBI, two runs scored and finished a double short of batting for the cycle — but other youngsters also chipped in.

Summer Kamioka went 3 for 4 with a pair of runs driven in, Iyana Reed had a pair of hits, including a solo home run, and Genice Gabriel and Rheyl Araka-Lee each scored twice.

"A lot of them like Iyana, Kylie Kawelo — who had a good game today at third — even girls like Genice Gabriel — who didn't really play last year — they are kind of getting the feel of what it's supposed to be like and to see them do it so quickly — in a matter of one or two games — is great," Morikawa said. "I just hope we can carry it over one more into and into the playoffs."

Thursday's win was in stark contrast to the first time the teams met back on March 21, when Kailua cruised to a 12-3 win.

"This was an extremely big win," Takushi said. "We put in a lot of effort. From the first time we learned what we needed to change, the mentality that we needed to change and we knew that it was something that we could accomplish in the end, so we just put in the work and we just came through in the game."

Takushi feels like things are coming together nicely for her team at just the right time.

"Definitely," Takushi said. "We're playing our best softball right now. Our coaches are totally preparing us for it. We're just putting in so much work so that we can improve from where we were in the beginning."

Na Menehune face their next test in the form of undefeated Kaiser, the sixth-ranked team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Softball Power Rankings, in a 5 p.m. game Saturday at Patsy T. Mink/Central Oahu Regional Park.