HONOLULU - The non-championship fall season for the Chaminade University softball team came to a close Sunday in Day 2 of the Kama'aina Tournament at the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
The Silverswords, who had split against host Hawai'i and fellow Pacific West Conference member BYU-Hawai'i the day before, lost their opener, 10-1 to Division I Hawai'i and fell to the Seasiders in their second game, 7-6.
CUH-UH Box Score
In Game 1, the Rainbow Wahine, a potential Top-25 team when the championship season begins next February, plated two runs in the second, six in the third, then two more in the fifth for a 10-0 lead.
The Swords got their lone run in the seventh when pinch-hitter
Noelani Maglinti tripled to right to lead off the inning. Freshman Kylie Nishino, pinch-hitting for
Samantha Ford, brought Maglinti home with an RBI groundout to right field off Rainbow Wahine pitcher Loie Kesterson. It was the first earned run allowed by a UH pitcher to Chaminade since the 2011 fall exhibition season.
Heather Morales earned the win while
Marisella Rodriguez took the loss.
CUH-BYUH Box Score
In Game 2, the Swords broke a scoreless game with a 6-run fourth inning. The first three batters got on board, then
Sierra Mendiola got CUH on the board with an RBI groundout to shortstop. Two batters later, Shannon Hokama was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the Swords' second run. The next batter,
Elia Lizarraga, grounded out to second, but the Seasiders couldn't turn the inning-ending double play, allowing
Ashley Phelps to score, making it 3-0. An error by the shortstop on Coco Stewart's grounder allowed Kaleen Terayama to score the fourth Chaminade run and continue the inning. Maglinti, pinch-hitting again, came through with a single into center, scoring Hokama and Jenn Betian.
BYUH got on board in the fifth and were looking for more, but Lizarraga corralled a fly ball in center, then fired a strike to home to nail the runner trying to score for an inning ending 8-2 double play.
Then in the top of the seventh, through a steady rain that had begun a few innings earlier, the Seasiders mounted a furious rally with six runs to take the lead. The Swords couldn't muster a comeback in their half of the seventh as the Seasiders retired the side.
"It was a win-win for us especially with a new team with a lot of freshman," Silverswords head coach
Kent Yamaguchi said. "Playing UH prepares us for the regular season because they are a nationally-ranked Division I team. Thats what playing them is all about - playing a very good team, test our defense and show our kids they can play with anyone. We learned what areas we need to work hard at during the break."
The Swords begin their championship season on Saturday, Feb. 1 with the resurrection of the alumnae game at Corp Field.
