Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 BELMONT, CA – It was a tale of two games for the Chaminade softball team against Notre Dame de Namur today. After seeing their 9-game winning streak snapped in a first game 1-0 pitchers' duel loss, the Swords responded with 7-6 come-from-behind win over the Argonauts in Game 2.
The teams combined for six hits in Game 1, but exploded for 20 in the second. The split leaves both CUH and NDNU in a tie for fourth in the Pac West at 12-8. The Swords are 16-14 overall, while the Argos are 18-13.
Chaminade started the first game with back-to-back singles by
Shannan Hokama (Torrance, CA/South) and
Kori Berinobis (Kaneohe, HI/Castle). But Hokama and
Rayna Strom-Okimoto (Aiea/HI/Aiea) were left stranded at third and second, respectively.
The only run of the game came in the third inning when Sara Montecino led off with a walk. Sylia Honne then singled, but was thrown out at second, trying to stretch the hit into a double. However on the play, Montecino came all the way around from first to score.
The Swords had a golden opportunity in the top of the sixth when Hokama and Berinobis got on board via back-to-back errors to start the inning, putting them at second and third with one out. But the Swords heart of the order couldn't bring around the equalizing run as Argos pitcher Courtney Azevedo forced a groundout, then a fly out to end the threat.
Another opportunity presented itself in the seventh. The Swords managed to load the bases with one out on an
Elia Lizarraga walk, a
Samantha Ford single, and an error by the shortstop. But Azevedo snagged a Hokama line drive comebacker, then Honne made a shoe-string catch of Berinobis' sinking liner, ending the game.
In all, the Swords stranded six runners in scoring position. Azevedo held the Swords to only three base hits. Chaminade averaged 9.6 hits a game during the winning streak. Swords starter
Brett Aspel (7-8) was brilliant as well, allowing only three hits with a strikeout.
The Swords' bats came alive early in Game 2. CUH got four straight hits to open the top of the first inning, the last on an
Aja Keyes (Kaneohe, HI/Lutheran) RBI single.
Tumamaopavaiai Enos (Pahoa, HI/Pahoa), the fifth batter in the order, brought Berinobis home on an RBI sacrifice fly to right field. The Swords rounded out the scoring in the first with an RBI groundout, making it 3-0.
The Argos tied it up in the bottom half of the frame on a 2-run single by Breanna Young and Amanda Wallach's RBI base hit.
NDNU took a 5-3 lead in the second on a Mary Ortega RBI double and run-scoring single by Young. The Argos made it 6-3 in the fourth on Ortega's second RBI double of the game, this time off of Asepl, who replaced
Kaitlyn Watanabe (Kula, HI/Baldwin) earlier in the inning.
But the Swords rallied with a frenzy by sending 10 batters to the plate in their half of the fifth inning. Berinobis opened with a single, then stole second after Strom-Okimoto flew out. Keyes delivered an RBI single, bringing Berinobis home. Enos singled, chasing starter Hillary Ruddick from the circle. Reliever Shelby Reali would fare no better when she walked
Elia Lizarraga (Torrance, CA/Narbonne), which loaded the bases.
Noelani Maglinti (Kailua, HI/Kalaheo), pinch-hitting for
Letisha Vaba (Stockton, CA), then was plunked, bringing the second run home.
Samantha Ford (Honolulu, HI/Word of Life) then drew a bases loaded walk, tying the game at 6. Two batters later, Hokama, the team's second leading hitter at .349, smacked the go-ahead RBI single, bringing Lizarraga home, giving the Swords a 7-6 lead.
NDNU would threaten in the bottom of the seventh. Back-to-back one-out singles would put runners on first and second with one out. But Aspel induced a fly out to center for the second out, then a force out at third to end the game
Aspel (8-8) earned the win in relief, scattering four hits in her four innings of work, allowing only one run. Reali took the loss, falling to 6-6. Keyes was 3-for-4, tying her season high in hits, and also had two RBI. Hokama and Berinobis each went 2-for-4. Young led the Argos with three hits and driving in three.
“Different people stepped up to make plays today,” Sword head coach Kent Yamaguchi said. “It's good to know that even if we give up runs, the players are confident that they can come back.”
The Swords return to action tomorrow when they face Academy of Art in a Pac West doubleheader, beginning at 12 p.m. PDT (9 a.m. HST). The games are a make-up from Monday's rainout.
