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MANOA—The bats came alive and No. 8 Maryknoll jumped out to an early lead and never looked back to flatten Mid-Pacific, 18-3, in five innings at Frear Softball Field Wednesday.

Six Spartans scored two or more runs and three different batters registered a home run to help the defending Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions improve to 1-2 in the standings.

"Today we came in loose and confident. We knew we had something to prove. The first two games, we didn't play our best and we had to turn things around and that's exactly what we did," Sherreigh "Ua" Nakoa-Chung said.

The Owls, who came off a season-opening loss to Iolani the previous week, dropped to 0-2 in the ILH.

Nellian McEnroe-Marinas went 4 for 4 with five RBIs and a double, Jenna Sniffen was 4 for 5 with four RBIs and a home run.

"I think it's us not being selfish and thinking about our teammates and staying within ourselves. Overall we were moving over the runners and pinching runs in an inning instead of shooting for solo home runs," Nakoa-Chung said.

"This team can be our greatest at Maryknoll if they put everything together. They are finding themselves and some of these leaders are coming to the plate. We would win games, but now when we're down, it takes leadership to come back up," Maryknoll coach John Uekawa said.

Nakoa-Chung went 3 for 4 from the plate with a home run and in the circle she struck out five, walked four, and scattered three hits to pick up the win.

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She was getting back into the groove after recovering from a pointer finger injury on her pitching hand.

"Ua is one of the best pitchers in the state. She is coming off an injury, we've been patient. She hasn't pitched in four weeks. She doesn't have any pain in the finger and she's able to spin the ball. We as individuals as a team have to play defensively and I feel like we have one of our better defensive teams," Uekawa said.

Carys Murakami went 2 for 3 and scored three runs and got Maryknoll on the scoreboard with a leadoff solo home run over the right field fence.

"It's a passion for her to be leadoff. She understands that we move with her and from her freshman year, she's been our leadoff hitter. She can do it and everything was momentum building," Uekawa said.

The hit was contagious as Breyli Agbayani-Shibao, McEnroe-Marinas, Sniffen, and Nakoa-Chung all followed up with base hits that resulted in a 3-0 lead.

Makena Nera doubled and Haylee Cathcart brought in another run and Nera scored off an error for a commanding 6-0 lead after the top of the first inning.

Jasmine Allen led off with a walk and moved over on Sierra Kato's sacrifice bunt and got to third on Dayana Mekaru's grounder to third. Faced with two outs, Hailey Brunn got the Owls on the scoreboard after plating Allen.

The Spartans added a pair of runs in the second inning off of Sniffen's homer.

Maryknoll got four more runs on the board after Avery Mahoe loaded the bases with walks and McEnroe-Marinas doubled to bring in a pair of runs and Sniffen cleaned it up with a ground ball to center for two more for a 12-1 lead.

"I think this was an opportunity for us to focus and be disciplined with our hitting. Overall defense wise, to make sure we're doing the right fundamentals and me, personally to focus on my pitching and mental game," Nakoa-Chung said.

Mid-Pacific threatened after Nakoa-Chung walked Alexa Siu and Alyssa Umemoto. Elysia Garrett moved over the base runners with a single to load the bases. Nakoa-Chung struck out Jadelyn Retuta, but Mahoe brought in Siu and Umemoto with a RBI single to left field but trailed, 12-3.

"They are a team you can't be complacent. They are a scrappy team and we have to play as a team," Nakoa-Chung said.

Maryknoll poured on six more runs and Nakoa-Chung led off with a solo home run and plated two more with a double. Jacie Hayata-Ano brought in a run on a fielder's choice and Murakami's hard single plated another run and McEnroe-Marinas' fourth hit of the afternoon added another.

The Spartans take on No. 5 Kamehameha-Kapalama on Wednesday, March 30 at McKinley. The Owls face the Warriors on Saturday, March 26.

Both teams are expected to meet again on April 9 at McKinley at 6 p.m.