No. 6 Pearl City hammers Waiakea, 14-0


Pearl City's Hope Casarez was 2 for 3 from the plate with three runs scored and two RBIs in a mercy run rule win over Waiakea. Brien Ing | SL

MANOA—Tyanna Kaaialii and Kristin Frost combined for a five-inning no-hitter and No. 6 Pearl City scattered 12 hits to pound fourth-seeded Waiakea, 14-0 in the quarterfinals of the DataHouse/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Softball State Championships at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Pearl City (10-8 overall) advances to play top-seeded Kapolei to set up an all OIA West showdown at 7 p.m at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Warriors (17-3 overall) will play No. 7 Leilehua at McKinley.

Kaailii pitched one inning to strike out three and Frost came in to pitch the remainder of the game to strike out seven for the win. The duo followed up with the second no-hitter of the afternoon after Aubree Kim's no-hit performance against Maui. 

"We didn't really think about it, we played our game," said Frost, who was unaware of the no-hitter. "The defense was super good and they made all the plays."

Momentum carried over from the Iolani game as the Chargers loaded the bases from walks and an error. Hope Casarez drove in a two RBI double and Ana Cabato followed up with two RBI single to help give the Chargers a 5-0 lead.

"This week we have been practicing our hitting and we took that momentum into the games. Everyone was getting in solid hits," said Frost, who went 2-for-5, with two runs and two RBIs.

"In my head, I say, ‘See it, hit and line drive up the middle' and I took a good swing at it," said Casarez, on the double.

Pearl City added three more runs in the second with the help of Kylie Tasaki's two RBI single. Frost reached on a fielder's choice and added her second run in the third to give the Chargers a nine-run lead.

"Definitely it gave us confidence and today we wanted to keep it going for our school and for the community," said Casarez.

Kristi Hirata, who was charged with the loss, threw five walks and of the 12 Pearl City runs, 10 were earned. Jourdan Perreira and Alyssa Hara came in to pitch the rest of the way.

The Chargers got three consecutive singles and Frost hit a two RBI double left to help put the game away for good. Pearl City made some defensive changes by moving girls to other positions.

"Defensively, we used our eyes to observe everything that was going on," said Casarez.

Casarez, who also had two stolen bases, added her third run of the game in the fifth off of Cheyne Obara's single.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].