No. 3 Campbell downs Kealakehe, 8-0

Campbell's Chloe Domingo is engulfed in teammates after belting a solo shot as an encore to follow Jocelyn Alo's home run in the first inning. Spencer Honda | SL

MANOA — Jocelyn Alo and Chloe Domingo hit back-to-back first-inning homers to support the three-hit pitching of sophomore Jade Behic to help No. 3 Campbell roll Kealakehe, 8-0, Wednesday in the opening round of the DataHouse Division I girls' softball tournament at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The Sabers (13-4) will play second-seeded and Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Maryknoll, ranked fourth, in Thursday's 7 p.m. quarterfinal.

The Waveriders (10-8) move to the consolation semifinals against Kapolei 10:15 a.m. Friday at RWSS.

Behic scattered three singles, two in the fourth inning, but escaped the first-and-third jam with one of her seven strikeouts. She did not a walk a battter. She has been backup to reigning All-Hawaii Player of the Year Danielle Cervantes.

"She's been proving herself with us," Campbell coach Shag Hermosura said. "Not taking Kealakehe lightly, but at least we got Danielle another day of rest. Jade did a hell of a job. She's up and coming. We have to make sure in coming years we have somebody who can throw the ball. But the girls have confidence behind her. Jocelyn (Alo, the catcher) has been working with her hard with her confidence level."

Behic (3-0) lowered her earned run average to 0.73.

Meanhiwle, Alo, who has been walked 33 times this season, did not see four wide pitches until her final plate appearance. She homered in her first at-bat, but flied out in her next two at-bats. But she was pitched around in her final plate appearance with runners at second and third and two out.

"It's do or die here," Kealakehe coach Loni Mercado said. "We know what she can do, but we know we can do, too. We leave it up to the swing of the bat, the rotation of the pitch. It is what it is. When we tried to walk her, she took a couple hacks at that. I'm sure it gets under her skin, being walked all season. Once in a while, we'll sneak one in there. There are a few Alo-types on the Big Island and we worked on that throughout the season, but what a fun game, hun?"

Hermosura thinks Alo won't see a strike here on.

"That's something that nobody does," Hermosura said of Kealakehe pitching to Alo. "She was fortunate to get a pitch she could hit out. But being honest, tomorrow on, I don't know if she's going to see any (hittable) pitches."

So it was important that Domingo homered, too, as well a driving in two with a single in the Sabers' three-run second. Trinity Favela had a two-run double in the third to cap the scoring.

Kiara Cantiberos was tagged with the loss. She was charged with eight run, nine hits and four walks with one strikeout in six innings.

Hermosura also used his bench by sending up seven pinch hitters late in the game. They combined to go 1 for 6 with a walk. Malia Kaakimaka had the lone hit, a single in the fifth.