HHSAA Softball
No. 1 Mililani claims fourth D1 state crown, first since 2014, with rout of No. 2 Kamehameha


  



Fri, May 17, 2024 @ [ 7:00 pm ]


F/5TH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Mililani 0 1076XX14121
Kamehameha 0 0 100XX142

W: Hinano Bautista    L: Peahi Grilho-Armitage

KSK: Mua Williams 1-3 rbi; Peahi Grilho-Armitage 3.6 IP 4 ER
MIL: Sunni Kahanu 3-3 2 runs 5 rbi 2 HR; Hinano Bautista 5.0 IP 0 ER


MANOA — A decade after their last state crown, the Mililani Trojans are queens of the diamond once again. 

Senior Sunni Kahanu belted a pair of home runs and drove in five runs and freshman Hinano Bautista fired a four-hitter to lead No. 1 Mililani to a 14-1 win over No. 2 Kamehameha in the title game of the DataHouse/HHSAA Division I Softball State Championships Friday night. 

A capacity crowd at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium saw the Trojans (17-1) induce the 10-run differential mercy rule after five innings against the Warriors (14-6) to claim their first state championship since 2014.

"It's our ten-year anniversary and you know what, it feels great," longtime Mililani coach Rose Antonio said of the program's fourth state championship. "Back to Mililani, the koa head."

Kahanu, a senior centerfielder and University of Hawaii-signee, batted 3 for 3 with a sacrifice bunt. Her solo home run in the top of the fourth inning gave the Trojans the lead for good and ignited a seven-run frame. 

Mililani sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning and rapped out six hits in the fourth to break the game open. Kaui Garcia drove in a pair of runs with a single past second base and Makayla Pagampao belted a towering three-run home run well over the fence in centerfield to make it an 8-1 lead. 

"They just put the ball in play and just made contact. Discipline at the plate, that's what you want and they just made contact," Antonio said.

The Trojans put up another big number in the top of the fifth inning. The first three batters reached base before Kolbi Kochi's RBI-sacrifice fly scored Taryn Hirano. Ori Mailo pushed across another run with her RBI-single through the left side of the infield and after Pagampao drew a walk to load the bases, Kahanu batted her second home run over the fence in left center to make it a 14-1 cushion. 

"The first (home run) it felt really well off the bat, but the second one I was kind of surprised and shocked," Kahanu said. 

Kahanu made a key defensive play in the bottom of the first inning, when she threw out Mua Williams on a play at the plate to keep the game scoreless. 

"That's huge for her on the defensive side. That's a momentum-builder and then she comes up and I think the score was tied at the time and she hits a home run," Antonio said. 

Bautista was certainly appreciative of the outfield assist. 

"That was the biggest play ever," she said. "I think that's one of our biggest plays for outfield. I was really excited because I think that's the best outfield throw I've seen in my life."

Kamryn Aoki took a pitch off the helmet with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the second inning to score Pagampao for the game's first run. The Trojans left the bases loaded, however, when Peahi Grilho-Armitage got out of the jam when she got Garcia to fly out to center field for the third out.

The Warriors evened the score in the bottom of the third. Nikki Chong led off the frame with a walk and took second on a fielding error that allowed Mariah Antoque to reach safely. Two batters later, Chong scored on an RBI-ground out by Williams. 

However, just a few pitches before her RBI-ground out, Williams had a batted ball down the third base line that would have scored two runs called foul by the home plate umpire, much to the dismay of the team's fans. 

Datahouse/HHSAA Softball State Championships
All-Tournament Team (as selected by the media)

Division I

Most Outstanding Player
Hinano Bautista, Mililani

Infield
Quinn Waiki, Campbell
Mariah Antoque, Kamehameha
Taryn Hirano, Mililani
Jerrell Mailo, Mililani
Lahela Painter, Baldwin
Mua Willams, Kamehameha

Outfield
Sunni Kahanu, Mililani
Marley Espiau, Kamehameha
Mikaela Scarborough, Kamehameha

Catcher
Kezia Lucas, Kamehameha

Utility
Makayla Pagampao, Mililani

Pitcher
Peahi Grilho-Armitage, Kamehameha

Kamehameha coach Mark Lyman did not mince his words about what he saw on the play. 

"It was fair. It was fair. It was fair. Go back and watch the replay, it was fair," Lyman remarked. 

He felt the call altered the momentum of the game. 

"It was huge. It was huge. It was huge. It would have been two-to-one with a runner on second with one out — it was huge," Lyman said. "Momentum can swing just like that. In a game like this with two very good teams, momentum can swing on the smallest little things here and there and that was huge."

Lyman tipped his cap, however, to Bautista, whose only run allowed was an unearned one. The freshman, who took over the role of staff ace midway through the season, finished out the season with a 9-0 record and an earned run average of 1.20. 

"She threw well against us. She put it where we couldn't really hit it and so she did well. I give her a lot of credit," Lyman said. 

Three of the four hits Bautista allowed were in the first inning. She faced just four more batters than the minimum the rest of the way. Bautista kept the ball down against the Warriors' vaunted bats, as evidenced by her 14 ground-ball outs. 

"Basically all my pitches were working," she said. "Just trusting my defense, letting my defense work, putting all the plays in check and just keeping them on their toes."

Mailo finished 3 for 4 with two runs scored, Hirano was 2 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored in the win.

Grilho-Armitage took the loss for the Warriors. She allowed eight runs, though only four of them were earned, on seven hits with one strikeout and four walks in 3 2/3 innings of work. 

"We just didn't play the way we could have played," Lyman said. "A couple of calls here or there, it could have been a different story. It never felt like we were out of it, I thought we had a good shot at it, but we just came up short."

Kamehameha, which was coming off of a 14-1 five-inning semifinal win over No. 9 Baldwin earlier Friday, was seeking its ninth state title and first since 2008. 

Mililani, which posted a 3-2 win over Campbell in its semifinal Friday afternoon, ends the season having won its final 13 games. 



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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