Maryknoll players celebrate after defeating Mid-Pacific to secure a berth into the Division I tournament. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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SAND ISLAND—Maryknoll broke open the game in the second inning, scoring 10 runs as they rolled past Mid-Pacific, 13-1 in five innings in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu postseason final at Sand Island Park. The Lady Spartans clinched the ILH's second and final state berth to the DataHouse/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Softball State Championships.

"It's exciting to have the opportunity to go back to states. We have to do what we do in practice and as long as we stay and keep within ourselves, we should be fine," said Bree Soma.

"I feel it's every girl's dream to go to a state tournament especially for softball and it feels great to go with this team because I have a lot of confidence in us," said Nohea Hee.

The Owls, who knocked out Punahou,10-5, in the postseason tournament's opening round on Apr. 29 end their season at 7-9.

"We ended up 6-8 in the regular season. Once the playoffs started, records went out the door, it's a new season. We were down against Punahou and rallied against them. It showed the resiliency of the team, but today we came across Labasan and shut us down, hat's off to her," said MPI coach Alan Inaba.

Kamalei Labasan went 2-for-2, two runs and 2 RBIs, Nohea Hee went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs, and Kasey Magdadaro and Shayna Ige each scored two runs. Shearyna Labasan pitched five innings, struck out seven and allowed two hits.

The Lady Spartans got on the scoreboard first to take an early 2-0 lead. Kaili-Ann Akimseu walked Shearyna Labasan and she advanced to second on Soma's sacrifice bunt. Nohea Hee singled to right field. Chynna Mekaru and Kiana Arcayena came in for both Labasan and Hee as courtesy runners. Both courtesy runners scored off of errors by Jenna Kumabe.

Maryknoll broke open the game, scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the second inning. Akimseu walked Kamalei Labasan and Kasey Magdadaro and Shayna Ige reached on a fielder's choice to start things off.

"I think it helped we came out hot and our plan was to get the momentum early so we could jump out on them. At practice we worked hard on defense and making sure we keep the ball in front of us," said Soma.

Shearyna brought her sister, Kamalei in with a single and Soma lined out to Beyli Correra, but she could not connect to first for the double play that allowed Magdadaro to score. Hee's single brought in Ige and Mekaru and after that Kanoe Tanigawa brought in Arcayena. Tamia Hirano's sacrifice fly scored Mylee Enos and Kamalei Labasan brought in Tanigawa with a single to left field. Maryknoll went back to the top of the lineup as Kamalei Labasan, Ige and Magdadaro scored their second runs of the game to make it, 12-0.

"I was thinking team when I went up to bat because we have to score more runs to win this game to go to to states. Our coaches prepared us really well and worked hard on defense," said Hee.

"That's how we lost some of our games this year," said Inaba, on some of the games that got away from them.

Kamalei Labasan drove in her second RBI of the game as she brought in Enos to make it 13-0 in the bottom of the third.

"We had to stay confident and had to pick up my energy. I felt confident to hit. When I walked, I knew someone was going to bring me in and we picked each other up and didn't want to leave anyone on base," said Kamalei Labasan, who's only a sophomore.

In the top of the fourth, Lia Nakamoto reached on an error by Shayna Ige and Akimseu doubled to left field. Marissa Allen's single scored Nakamoto for the Owls' only score of the game.

Labasan retired the side in the top fifth to end the game due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Kamehameha clinched the ILH's seeded berth and a first round bye in the state tournament, while Maryknoll will play in the opening round starting on May 12. Games will be played at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

MPI bids farewell to seniors Jenna Kumabe, Kaili-Ann Akimseu, Nicole Lopez, Samantha Sakihara and Treana Garcia-Perreira.

"We're going to miss them a lot for their leadership. That's our last link to our last state championship and we have to start building from now," said Inaba.