Kamehameha's Lia Tom makes a throw to first in a win against Maryknoll. Tyler Guieb | Special to SL

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SAND ISLAND—No. 2 Kamehameha (13-1-1) shut down top-ranked Maryknoll, 2-0 to win the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular season title on Friday afternoon at Sand Island Park and a secured a state tournament berth to the DataHouse Division I Softball State Championships starting on May 12.

"This season was good for us, it showed us our weak spots were and what we need to work on. I'm proud of my team and let them enjoy this one," said pitcher Kamalani Dung.

Maryknoll and Kamehameha played to a 6-all tie back on Mar. 18. The Warriors avenged a 2-0 loss to the Lady Spartans on Apr. 8 and snapped Maryknoll's 11-game winning streak.

"This game felt really different. The first time we played them, we were winning 6-3 and they came back toward the end. The last game, they caught as a bad time, off a few injuries and different lineup. In the end, we won the war," said Dung.

Maryknoll (12-2-1) will have to battle Iolani (4-10), No. 5 Punahou (10-4), or Mid-Pacific Institute (6-8) in the ILH postseason tournament starting next week for the final state tournament berth.

"The girls wanted it a lot. Kama pitched a great game and give all the credit to the girls. They came out prepared, focused right from the start," said Kamehameha coach James Millwood.

The Warriors got off to an auspicious start after Alana Cobb-Adams' bunt single and Kamalani Dung's sacrifice bunt moved her to second. Shearyna Labasan walked Dallas Millwood and Mahina Sauer's RBI single past first baseman Mylee Enos brought in Cobb-Adams. Rachel Ogasawara reached first on a fielder's choice to short stop Kanoe Tanigawa, but her throw to home was too high for Nohea Hee to handle and Millwood added another run.

"They had energy the whole game, I was hoping they wouldn't run out of the energy and get too tired. They didn't and were strong the whole seven innings. It shows a lot of character to come back and get this game. I think it's a good home-field advantage for Maryknoll and for them to do what they did, all the credit to the girls," said Millwood.

Dung went the distance to strike out five and allowed three hits.

"Throughout the game, I was confident my team would do the job, the girls have been getting better and better. The balls were being hit to them and they made good plays and minimized the errors," said Dung.

"It's good the whole team can play their part because Kama is a dominating pitcher, but she cannot do it by herself and she knows we got her back," said Sauer.

Maryknoll left eight runners on base and the furthest they got to was third base all game.

"We had a plan coming into the game and we had an idea to pitch them in positions where our fielders can make easy plays rather than having to strike everyone out all the time," said Dung.

"Defensively, they made all the plays they had to make. They didn't pressure out or give them extra stuff. We had to make them have to earn it," said Millwood.

"Defense and pitching wins championships and Kamehameha outplayed us defensively. Kama pitched a great game and we have to give her that credit. At the same time we hit the ball hard, but we hit them at everybody. It was frustrating, we had a girl on second and third and we hit a line drive and they catch it," said Maryknoll coach John Uekawa.

Labasan pitched a complete game striking out six batters and allowing three hits. She went 1-for-2 and hit a double just inside the right field line in the bottom of the fourth inning. Maryknoll stranded six Kamehameha runners on base.

"She's a great pitcher and for her to keep her composure and not give us those runs," said Millwood, on Labasan. "If we were able to score some of those runs, it would've blown things open and taken the air out of them. But they were down a couple and it kept them in the range of scoring and getting back into the game."

The Warriors have time to recuperate and refocus to prepare for the state tournament as they set their sights on a bigger prize.

"We're going back to work. We got one goal down, now we got to get the other one," said Sauer.