Box Score TURLOCK, CA – The Chaminade softball team concluded the opening day of pool play with a 2-0 record at the prestigious Tournament of Champions Presented by Mizuno with a 10-2, five inning win against Cal State East Bay on Friday.
Rayna Strom-Okimoto, the reigning Pac West Player of the Week, went 2-for-4 with four RBI, a run scored and a triple.
Tumamaopavaiai Enos (Pahoa, HI/Pahoa) went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and a double at the plate in Game 2 to complete a perfect day for the senior at the dish. Enos was also 3-for-3 against San Francisco State earlier in the day.
The Swords improved to 20-14 on the season and have won 14 of their last 15 games. It's Chaminade's first 20-win season in over a decade. The Pioneers dropped to 11-24.
The Silverswords, coming off a thrilling walk-off 7-6 win over the Gators earlier in the day, started off against Cal State East Bay when
Shannan Hokama (Torrance, CA/South) led off the game with a double to left center. Two batters later, Strom-Okimoto brought Hokama home on an RBI ground-out.
The Pioneers threatened with runners at second and third with two outs in the bottom of the second, but Pac West Pitcher of the Week,
Kaitlyn Watanabe (Kula, HI/Baldwin), induced a pop-up to shortstop to extinguish the threat.
In the third, the Swords scored two more runs on an
Aja Keyes (Kaneohe, HI/Lutheran) RBI groundout and an Enos RBI single bringing home
Kori Berinobis (Kaneohe, HI/Castle).
After the Pioneers rapped out two runs off Watanabe in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 4-2, CUH kept the barrage going in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Strom-Okimoto delivered a bases-clearing triple down the right field line. The senior shortstop would later come home on a wild pitch, capping a 4-run fourth, making it 7-2 Swords.
Chaminade added to its lead in the fifth. Keyes and Enos drew bases-loaded walks and
Elia Lizarraga (Torrance, CA/Narbonne) would produce an RBI ground-out, making it 10-2, putting the 8-run rule in effect.
Brett Aspel (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union), in relief of Watanabe, worked a scoreless fifth to preserve the win for Chaminade.
Watanabe picked up the win to improve to 9-5 on the season, scattering six hits in three innings of work, allowing two runs. Apsel worked two innings of 1-hit ball. Andi Anderson took the loss to fall to 2-6.
“What a rollercoaster day,” Swords head coach Kent Yamaguchi said about a walk-off win, followed by a run-rule victory. “The good thing is that the bats are still working, run production was up with 17 runs total today. The second game was cold (with the game-time temperature at 61 degrees), but we kept plugging away.”
The Swords conclude pool play at the Tournament of Champions with a tripleheader tomorrow. Chaminade opens with Northwest Nazarene at 11 a.m. PDT (8 a.m. HST), then faces Cal State Dominguez Hills at 1:30 p.m. PDT (10:30 a.m. HST). The Swords close pool play at 5:45 p.m. PDT (2:45 p.m. HST) against UC San Diego.
