Second-ranked Pearl City will square off against fourth-ranked Leilehua in the nightcap of an OIA Division I softball doubleheader at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park Saturday night. Michael Lasquero | SL

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In the rugged Western Division of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, just about every game provides a quality opponent and what will likely be a knock-down, drag-out back-and-forth battle.

No teams knows this better than Pearl City.

The Chargers won their first five games — most notably a 2-1 win over two-time defending state champion Campbell — to ascend to the No. 1 spot in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Softball Power Rankings.

However, a 6-1 loss at Mililani early last week, followed by a come-from-behind 13-7 road win at Nanakuli over the weekend, sent Pearl City into its bye Wednesday with some questions.

Questions that coach Chad Obara is hoping he'll get the answer to Saturday when his second-ranked Chargers take on No. 4 Leilehua in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

"This past week was about searching for what was missing from these past two games compared to the rest of the season and I'm hoping they found it and we've straightened everything out," Obara said. "Hopefully we're refocused and we get back on the right road again and play the way we're capable of playing."

Pearl City fell behind 6-0 after two innings against the Golden Hawks last Saturday before rallying to take the lead in a five-run fifth. Freshman outfielder Jaeda McFarland batted 2 for 3 with a home run and two walks. She drove in a season-high four runs and scored twice in the win.

The Chargers have six starters hitting over .300 on the season, led by McFarland's .524 average. As a team they average 7.1 runs per game and have scored double-digit runs three times.

"I think everybody is kind of doing their part and contributing and it's different people every game," Obara said. "There's some people that even contribute and they don't even get recognized for it, but they're willing to do the little things to help this team be successful and I really like that about this team. We have players that just keep working hard and doing things for the right reason, which is team success."

The Mules, meanwhile, are coming off their best offensive output of the season in Thursday's 15-2 win over Waianae in five innings.

Leilehua rapped out 10 hits off Searider pitching and put up an eight-spot in the second inning in the rout. Three different players paired hits and seven different players registered a hit.

"This past game was the best offense we've had in terms of stringing hits together and scoring runs," Mules coach Stacy Araki said. "All season we've been saying that ‘we just need one.' Whether it's a good defensive play, or one more hit to bring in runs, or one more good pitch from our pitcher — every time it's just one or two things that we don't do and then it hurts us."

The victory got Araki's squad back in the win-column after a 7-4 loss to top-ranked Campbell last Saturday.

"I think it was a good confidence-booster for them and it's always nice to get a win after a loss, but we've been practicing hard and trying to cut down on our errors and trying to play a better game defensively," Araki said.

The defensive miscues have been a thorn in the Mules' side this season. In their three losses this year, they have committed six total errors — including three in a 5-4 loss to Pearl City in nine innings earlier this month.

"We were ahead in that game and the girls could see the score, and then just things happened," Araki said. "Nobody really likes that feeling of a hard loss like that, so I think it stuck in their minds that we could have won. We have to try and play an errorless game."

Pearl City senior Tyanna Kaaialii (6-1, 2.04 ERA) will be opposed by Leilehua junior Kaena Nistal (4-3, 2.30 ERA) in the matchup of starting pitchers.

First pitch between the Chargers (6-1) and Mules (5-3) is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The game will follow an Eastern Division showdown between Roosevelt (6-2) and Moanalua (6-1) at 5 p.m.