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Chargers determined to stay even-keel despite huge win over Sabers




Do not bother attempting to get any hot takes out of the Pearl City softball team; it won't bite.

The Chargers had all the right things to say following their come-from-behind 2-1 win over perennial powerhouse Campbell Tuesday afternoon.

"It was just another game. We had a bad start, but we found a way to make plays happen and it just went our way today," said Pearl City catcher Hailey-Alexis Yamaguchi, who drove in both of her team's runs on a two-out single to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The win gives the Chargers — the lone remaining unbeaten in the arduous OIA Division I West — sole possession of first place at 4-0.

It was the first regular-season loss for the Sabers since March 24, 2015 — when they fell 6-5 at Mililani — breaking a string of 22 consecutive wins in OIA West play.

Campbell has won the last two D1 state titles and entered Tuesday's showdown as the No. 1 team in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings.

So to say that second-ranked Pearl City's win was a milestone one isn't a stretch by any means — but just don't tell the Chargers that.

"It definitely feels sweeter, but we treat every game the same, we treat every batter, every inning, every pitch the same no matter what," said senior pitcher Tyanna "Peanut Butter" Kaaialii, who struck out a season-high 10 and scattered three hits in the complete-game win.

Pearl City has improved in each of coach Chad Obara's two-plus seasons — it reached the state quarterfinals in his first season two years ago and made the semis last year — but this was without a doubt, the signature win of his reign with the program.

Still, no bite.

"I'm sure the girls all feel good about it, but we try to preach that balance and equal value for everything, which is why (Yamaguchi) probably gave you that answer that she did," Obara said. "This is early. This is not even the end of the first round of the regular season yet, so we're trying to keep it at a nice even-keel and we'll move on from here."

It was the second straight game without an error by the Chargers — who were coming off back-to-back extra-innings victories over Leilehua and Kapolei last week — and their second one-run win this season.

This one took just about everything they had.

Kaaialii was masterful, retiring the first 11 batters she faced and allowing just two walks. She was able to overcome the lone run she surrendered in the top of the fifth inning to improve to 4-0 on the year with a 1.87 ERA.

"I think the mental approach we take is a really huge help and then on top of that, I think it's our strong team bond is what keeps us together and what keeps us from fighting with each other and getting mad at each other and instead we motivate each other to be better and to be the best player that we can be," said Kaaialii, who has registered 30 strikeouts against 16 walks in 30 innings pitched this season.

Kaaialii got out of a jam in the top of the fourth by striking out Anatasia Iosia to strand a pair of base runners and end the inning.

"That should have been runs," Sabers' coach Michael Hermosura said.

Kaaialii got Campbell's bats to chase pitches off the plate early on in the game before having to adjust to the Sabers' in-game adjustments.

"It looked like they moving closer into the (batter's) box or stepping toward the pitch, but PB was doing her job," Yamaguchi said of Kaaialii. "We just stayed with our plan and if they hit it, they hit it and our defense just got our backs."

"To adjust I kind of just took it off the plate a little bit more or just put a little bit more spin on it," Kaaialii said.

Yamaguchi's heroics in the home half of the sixth innings were anything but in her mind.

"It was just another at bat," she said. "If I get a hit, I get a hit — as long as it's a hard-hit ball."

Yamaguchi's liner — which plated the tying run in Taylor Shigeta and the go-ahead run in Kylie Tasaki — came after Jaeda McFarland struck out with two runners in scoring position for the first out of the inning and clean-up hitter Noel Saunders popped out with the bases loaded for the second out.

"Taylor and Kylie started off the rally and it was just another at bat for me. It was just there and I just hit the ball and it just came my way," Yamaguchi said.

A win over Waianae Saturday will likely result in the Chargers overtaking the Sabers for the top spot in next week's Power Rankings, but it's certainly not the end game they are after.

"We're confident, but we're still not finished," Kaaialii said. "We've still got much more of our season to go and (many) more things to get better on and perfect."



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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