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Leisha Li'ili'i spelled relief for Castle not only with her pitching arm, but with her bat as well.

The 6-foot-1, senior left-hander drilled a pair of two-run home runs, drove in six runs and fired 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to rally the Knights from two five-run deficits in a dramatic 9-7 win against defending champion and top-seeded Campbell in a semifinal of the DataHouse Division I state softball tournament Thursday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The Knights, who were fourth in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, will meet Mid-Pacific in the championship at 7 Friday night. Castle has not won a state title since the inaugural tournament in 1977.

Li'ili'i, who started the game at first base, replaced starting pitcher Maycee Moe, who was tagged for seven runs (four earned) in 3 1/3 innings. At the plate, the left-handed hitting slugger was nearly unstoppable. Both of her homers were crushed over the left-center field wall; her first landed in the tennis courts. She was 4 for 5, and even when she flied out to left, it was deep in the left-center alley.

Li'ili'i started a string of three consecutive RBI single in the Knights' three-run sixth to tie the game at 7. In the top of the eighth, Sabers' reliever Sharae Esprecion walked Roblyn Silva to start the inning. Li'ili'i then drilled an 0-1 pitch over the left-center field fence to break the deadlock.

"I didn't think it was going to go over," Li'ili'i said. "I knew it was a solid hut, I didn't think it was going to go over."

"She just played the game of her life," Campbell coach David Perreira rnsaid. "It was awesome."

It was a heart-breaker for the Sabers, the Cinderalla team of last year's tournament, winning it all as an unseeded team. The magic continued Wednesday, when they rallied to beat Kapolei in the quarterfinals on Esprecion's grand slam. But midnight came a day early, as Li'ili'i turned Campbell's carriage into a pumpkin with several swings of her bat.

"Everyone's gunning for you," said Perreira of what he told his players after the game. "You're the state champs. We wanted to prove that we still belonged here. It wasn't just a Katie Manuma team, that we did it as a team last year, we did it as a team this year."

Manuma, who now plays for Brigham Young, was the Honolulu Advertiser's Player of the Year last season.

It was Perreira's last game as coach for the Sabers after eight seasons. He wants to spend more time with his children.

The Sabers looked like they were on their way back to the championship when they sent nine batters to the plate in a five-run first inning against Moe.

The Knights chipped away, scoring two in the third on RBI singles from Silva and, of course, Li'ili'i. Campbell made up for those runs with two in the fourth to make it a five-run margin again.

But Castle got those two back in the top of the fifth on Li'ili'i's first two-run homer of the game to make it 7-4 and chasing Campbell starter Summer Palipti for Esprecion.

Castle tied it in the sixth. After one out error, the Knights strung four singles in a row, the last three each driving in a run, tying the game at 7.

The Sabers didn't go down quietly in the bottom of the eighth. Silva was hit by a pitch and Esprecion reached on an infield single. Palipti reached on a sacrifice fielder's choice to load the bases with no out. Kawehi Kahana grounded to third for a force out at the plate and Nicole Arata hit a one-hopper back to Li'ili'i, who turned a game-ending, home-to-first double play.

Li'ili'i did not start the game as a pitcher because she had been under the weather since the tournament opener. She pitched six innings Wednesday and Moe one. With Moe a little stronger, coach Jon Berinobis elected to go with Moe.

"They were both ready," he said. "But the plan was to go with Moe, see how far she can go and Leisha can come in and keep things close."

Ironically, the Sabers used the long ball - Kayce Konohia's three-run homer - to help beat the Knights in the OIA Red semifinals, 7-6. But Berinobis didn't look at the win Thursday night as avenging that loss.

"Campbell had Kapolei and lost twice," Berinobis said. "(The Hurricanes) had'em yesterday and (Campbell) came out a winner. The third time is very hard. We beat (Campbell) twice the last couple years to get to the OIA final. So they paid us back earlier this season, too. It's hard, but you try to figure out ways to get it done."

Perreira said the Sabers' future looks bright, as only two position starters who are graduating are center fielder Colette Black and third baseman Nicole Arata.