Kamehameha edges Maryknoll, 1-0


Kamehameha starter Kamalani Dung went the distance in a 1-0 victory over Maryknoll. Aaliyah Birgado-Ormita | Leilehua HS
In a battle of dueling pitchers and stellar defensive play, its a shame there had to be a winner and a loser.

Kamehameha starter Kamalani Dung outlasted fellow freshman hurler Shearyna Labasan in a ten-inning marathon, as a walk-off single by Kaya Naiwi lifted the Warriors to a 1-0 victory.

"I really thought we were going to be able to pull through... and I just wanted to bring it (the win) home for our team and just make everyone proud.. The whole time I was thinking like, see it and hit it." said Naiwi of her game clinching at-bat.

Naiwi's clutch hit broke a string of missed scoring opportunities for Kamehameha, who stranded 9 runners before the walk-off, due in large part to a bend-but-not-break defensive effort by Maryknoll.

The Warriors would also find a way out a number of jams of their own, the most notable coming the top of the seventh. After surrendering a bloop single and a pair of walks to load the bases, Dung would induce a fly out to left field to end the threat.

"In a 0-0 ball game, its the defense that really holds and wins those game, and it just comes down to that one hit, that one run that's going to win it, and both sides were really strong today." said Kamehameha head coach Aloha Yamaguchi.

Led by Dung on the mound, Kamehameha would hold Maryknoll hitless over the final three innings, helping to set the stage for the offense.

"This game, I think the defense really helped me out. My screwball, my curve and my riser were working really well... I think we just needed to hit more." said Dung.

And after scattering eight hits over the first nine innings, Kamehameha would finally string together the base knocks when they mattered in the tenth.

With one away, Fahren Glackin would lace a single into left and Dung would help her own cause with a single of her own, just out of the reach of a charging shortstop, to put runners on first and second.

On the next at-bat, Glackin and Dung would move up a base on a wild pitch, forcing Maryknoll to issue an intentional pass to load the bases with the hopes of inducing an inning-ending double play.

But the Spartans wouldn't get the chance to turn two, as Naiwi would step up and stroke a sharp liner into center field, bringing in a jubilant Glackin for the game-winner.

Fresh off of a win over division nemesis Mid-Pacific, Kamehameha looks to be peaking at just the right time.

"Its (nearing) the end of the season, I think our girls are finally coming together and starting to get into the groove." added Dung, who would allow just 3 hits and no earned runs to go along with seven strikeouts and four walks in ten innings of work.

Dung also was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double.

Her pitching counterpart Labasan would go 9 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run on  eleven hits and two walks, striking out three.

Maryknoll shortstop Mieko Okimura was 1-for-2 with a ground-rule double.


Reach Brien Ing at [email protected].