KANEOHE, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University softball team was hoping to carry over the momentum after dealing the University of Hawai'i Hilo its first loss of 2021 on Saturday.
Instead the Silverswords were baffled by Vulcans' pitching on Sunday, specifically by Leah Gonzales who was the winning hurler in both games at Howard Okita Field.
Jaeda Cabunoc (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) and
Keaolani Takemura (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute) each had three hits in the twin bill.
The second game was highlighted by several outstanding defensive plays including a sequence where sisters robbed base hits away from each other in consecutive innings.
UH Hilo, which took three of four in Chaminade's home stand to win the season series, is 10-1 on the year while the 'Swords fell to 7-7.
Game 1
UH Hilo struck first after Kiarra Lincoln led off the game with a triple then scored on a groundout. They plated two more runs in the third and fourth innings for a 5-0 lead after four innings.
Taylor Genera (Norwalk, Calif./Whitney) came out of the bullpen in the fifth to spell starter
Madelyn Stockslager (Torrance, Calif./South), holding UH Hilo to just two base runners in the final three innings. The only hit she allowed was a leadoff triple in the sixth but with the help of a double play, stranded the runner there.
However it was more than enough for Gonzales, making her first starter of the season and who entered the day having tossed just five relief innings this season. She allowed hits to just Cabunoc, Takemura and
Haley Hayakawa (Torrance, Calif./South) and retired the final 12 batters she faced.
Game 2
The Silverswords' lineup card saw a new look including an all-new outfield with
Yolanda Racaza (San Pedro, Calif./Port of Los Angeles) in left,
Kieren Lopez (Bakersfield, Calif./Frontier) in center and
Jehna Ramiscal (Visalia, Calif./El Diamante) in right with
Robbi Gallegos (Long Beach, Calif./Saint Joseph) at first base, the first starts of the season for all four. Regular starting catcher
Kailah Gates-Coyaso (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waianae) got her first start of the season at third.
Meanwhile Cabunoc got her first career collegiate start in the circle, a position not foreign to her after earning all-state honors as a hurler at Roosevelt High School.
Cabunoc's counterpart, Sara Bhatt, encountered early trouble especially around the strike zone. Bhatt walked five in the first two innings and after back-to-back base hits by Takemura and
Malia Ka`akimaka-Moisa (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) to start the third, was pulled in place of Gonzales.
Like she did in the first game, Gonzales was highly effective, retiring 15 of the 17 batters she faced.
Meanwhile Cabunoc held her own, allowing just three runs, two earned, in her start. She also got stellar defense behind her. All three outfielders made running grabs while Gates-Coyaso had several fine stops, part of her five assists.
But the defensive attention in the late innings went to second baseman
Cheyne Obara (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) and her older sister at UH Hilo, Darian Obara, in what was seemingly a battle of "I-taketh-away-from-you."
In the bottom of the fourth, Cheyne skied a pitch that was destined to drop in shallow center field. But the elder Obara made a spectacular leaping basket catch to take the hit away. Then in the top of the fifth, little sis got even when Cheyne made a Gold Glove-worthy play of her own with a diving snare of Darian's line drive that was headed to center field.
Gonzales threw the final five innings to earn her second win of the day, improving to 3-0.
Cabunoc went the distance, with a strikeout, no walks and scattered 10 hits. She also collected two of her own at the plate while Takemura also had two knocks.
The Silverswords and Vulcans will face each other for the final time in a four-game series starting Saturday at Kealakehe High School in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.
