OIA Softball
No. 2 Campbell slugs No. 5 Leilehua, 7-4


  



Sat, Mar 25, 2017 @ [ 10:00 am ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Campbell 0 130300763
Leilehua 0 0 21001482

W: Danielle Cervantes    L: Kaena Nistal

LEI: Staisa Micky 2-3 2 rbi; Kaena Nistal 7.0 IP 6 ER 10 K
CAMP: Cieana Curran 1-2 2 runs 3 rbi HR; Danielle Cervantes 7.0 IP 3 ER 10 K


WAHIAWA - For Jocelyn Alo, the softball season has literally been a walk in the park...and so frustrating.

Fortunately for two-time defending state champion Campbell, others have her back.

Cieana Curran's three-run home run, Chloe Domingo's two-run single and Anastasia Iosia's solo homer lifted the No. 2 Sabers over No. 5 Leilehua, 7-4, Saturday at Kaala Elementary School field.

Campbell (6-1) remains tied for first with No. 1 Pearl City (5-1), which rallied from a 6-0 deficit to beat Nanakuli, 13-7, in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I West. The Mules (4-3) remain in fourth place.

The Oklahoma-bound Alo - the most feared hitter in the state after batting .577 with six homers, 11 doubles, a triple and 20 RBI last season - walked four times in four plate appearances against the Mules. The No. 3 hitter in the lineup saw 20 pitches, three for called strikes and fouling off one. Her courtesy runner, Nadia Delzer, scored twice. This season, Alo has walked 12 times; she is 4 for 10 when putting the ball in play with two doubles and a homer.

"It's a little frustrating, but it benefits my team getting on base, so I'll take the walk," Alo said.

Last year, Alo had Elisa Favela behind her in the order, so for opponents, it was pick your poison.

This season, Campbell coach Shag Hermosura had Domingo and Iosia hitting behind Alo. But since the game before Saturday's, he had the left-handed hitting Curran in the clean-up spot.

"We made that adjustment," Hermosura said. "Now that they're walking Jocelyn, we needed somebody to at least to put the ball on the ground, bunt it over, hit it over, do something.

"Jocelyn's not going to get her pitch; everybody knows that…Other than that, they're going to give her one pitch. If she doesn't capitalize on that one pitch, everything is going to be 10 balls out (of the strike zone). That's why we had to put Cieana in the fourth spot. It gives us a little more of a chance to drive in runs."

With the bat taken out of Alo's hands, others needed to contribute against the Mules to back starting pitcher Danielle Cervantes (6-1), who labored in the circle. She allowed season highs in hits (8), runs (4), earned runs (3) and walks (3). Plus she hit two batters. But she also had a season-high 10 strikeouts.

"She's just coming off a bad cold, like me," Hermorsura said. "Half our team had flus this past week. Not using that as an excuse, but when they come to practice, they just sit out, but they're there at practice. Dani was laboring; she was not in full health. Her back is OK; it's just she had the flu and a bad cold."

Leilehua starting pitcher Kaena Nistal (4-3) had a season-high 10 strikeouts, but also walked a season-high six, four of them being Alo.

The Sabers took a 1-0 lead in the second when Domingo singled with one out and took second when the center fielder misplayed the ball. An out later, Liana Nagamine hit an infield pop that second baseman Kayla Hale could not hold on to, allowing Domingo to score before Nikki Corla struck out.

The Sabers put the hurt on the Mules in the third. Alesia Ranches singled with one out and Alo walked. Curran, who struck out on a high pitch away in her previous at-bat, drilled a high full count pitch to left-center for her third homer of the season to make it 4-0 before Nistal retired two of the next three batters.

"I didn't know I hit it out," Curran said. "I just hit it, that's it. I didn't expect it to be a home run."

Curran, who has signed with Hawaii Pacific, where her mother, Chameka (Costa) Curran, played, his batting .579 with three homers and 10 RBI after hitting .260 with two homers and five RBI last season.

"She always had (pop), it was just her mechanics were off a little bit," Hermosura said of his center fielder's improved hitting. "Now she's got it together. She has her own personal workout at home. Plus on the field, she's always taking extra work. She's so determined…she wants to produce. Her leadership before, during and after practice is great."

"She's a tough hitter," Leilehua coach Stacy Araki said. "They're a tough team. I think she just came around. (The pitch) was supposed to be inside. It was in, but she just took it (to) center."

The Mules cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the third on Stasia Micky's two out, two-run single. They pulled to within a run in the fourth an Reilyenne Nahulu's RBI single.

But the Sabers blew the game open with a three-run fifth. Alo led off with a walk and Curran walked on four pitches. Courtesy runner Delzer and Curran advanced on Caisha Nunes' sacrifice and both scored on Domingo's two-run single. After Domingo was caught stealing second, Iosia homered to center to make it 7-3.

Leilehua got an unearned run off Cervantes in the bottom of the seventh. Gianna Araki led off with a single and was lifted for pinch runner Mikayla Pinera. An out later, Pinera took second on catcher Alo's throwing error on a pick-off try at first base. Mahea Calizo then reached first safely when first baseman Nagamine could not hold on to third baseman Domingo's throw after a grounder. With runners at the corners, pinch runner Sarah Honda stole second, but shortstop Ranches could not hold on to Alo's throw, allowing Pinera to score from third before Cervantes struck out the next two batters to end the game.

The loss snapped a three-game win streak by the Mules.

"We're right there near the top," Araki said. "They just have to believe in themselves. We just instill to them that we haven't hit our peak yet. Not all the batters were hitting. We made couple errors here and there. We just have to clean up and we're there with everybody else."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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