HONOLULU – There's a bevy of excitement surrounding the 2023 Chaminade University softball team.
Aside from competing on their new field – Silversword Field at Sand Island Park – head coach
Kent Yamaguchi who is entering his 18th year as the Silverswords' skipper, has six returning starters and their top two pitchers back.
Opening Day for the 'Swords is Sunday – weather pending – when they face Saint Martin's University starting at 12 p.m. The doubleheader features the return of Saints assistant coach Amber Manuel, who played two seasons for Chaminade (2015-16), earning 2016 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Third Team honors at designated player and pitcher.
The excitement is extra special this year with the addition of the Pacific West Conference Championships in early May, where the top four teams will face each other in a double-elimination tournament at Biola's Freedom Field in La Mirada, California, to determine the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Regionals. If the tournament happened last year, Concordia Irvine, Azusa Pacific, Biola and Hawai'i Pacific would have been the qualifiers.
Infielders
First baseman
Kobe Brown (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani; .284 BA, 10 RBI) and second baseman
Cheyne Obara (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City; .228, team-high 12 RBI) have been on the same infield for the past three seasons while
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City; .310, team-highs of 22 runs, nine steals) became part of the group last season as a freshman. Along with third baseman
Hailey Matsumura, the four became one of the top double-play groups in the nation in 2022, ranking third at 0.61 per game.
With Matsumura having graduated,
Jaeda Cabunoc (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) is set to replace her at the hot corner. Third base is not unfamiliar to the 2022 All-PacWest Third Team utility player, having started all 12 of her games there during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season there. Cabunoc also played all three of the 'Swords' games at third base during last November's UH Fall Preseason Classic.
Freshmen
Kamryn Lopez (Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial) and
Elora Tonaki (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Hawai'i Technology Academy) provide middle infield depth while another freshman,
Alicia Amaya (Bellflower, Calif./Bellflower), will help to spell Brown at first base.
Kailah Gates-Coyaso (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waianae) returns for her fourth year behind the plate. With a powerful and accurate arm, the senior has thrown out 17 would-be base stealers in her career. Gates-Coyaso is also versatile, able to play in the outfield as well as the left side of the infield.
If Gates-Coyaso is considered to be Catcher 1-A,
Keaolani Takemura (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute) would be their 1-B. While Gates-Coyaso made 21 starts behind the plate, Takemura had the other 20 while getting 17 more at the designated player spot. Takemura hit .274 while driving in 11.
Larchelle Tuifao (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kapolei) is the 'Swords' No. 3 catcher but proved her worth with a big bat as a pinch-hitter last season. Her first four career hits where all extra bases including the first three which drove in runs.
Outfielders
Returnees include
Chasity McKean (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/College of Southern Nevada/Kapolei HS) in centerfield while
Haley Hayakawa (Torrance, Calif./South) looks to return from an injury-plagued sophomore season which resulted in the team's full-time 2021 starter in left field playing just 20 last year. Looking to earn a spot in right is
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress), who led the team with a .317 average as a freshman.
Kieren Lopez (Bakersfield, Calif./Frontier), the older sister of Kamryn, returns for her fourth season to provide depth while freshmen who are looking to push for playing time include
Jaycie Chun (Kahului, Maui, Hawai'i/Maui) and
Isabel Rodriguez (Littleton, Colo./Columbine).
Pitchers
Staff ace
Taylor Genera (Norwalk, Calif./Whitney), who has 14 career wins and 2.83 ERA, is back for her final season inside the circle for the 'Swords. The senior had stellar performances last season including a nine-inning 1-0 pitchers' duel against Concordia's Kaitlin Entrup, the 2023 PacWest Preseason Pitcher of the Year. CUI was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time.
Expected to be the team's No. 2 starter is freshman
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory), who dominated the Greater Spokane League in Eastern Washington during her career. In the UH Fall Preseason Tournament, Benson pitched admirably against Hawai'i and Fullerton College.
Both Genera and Benson are capable of swinging the bat when not pitching. Genera was Chaminade's RBI leader in 2021 but an injury to start 2022 prevented her from taking hacks at the plate until the ending of the season while Benson had a pair of hits against Fullerton during the UH tournament.
To help with pitching depth, particularly in the PacWest's current four-game series format, freshmen
Ashley Ogata (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) and
Anissa Vital (San Pedro, Calif./Mary Star of the Sea) both join the Silverswords with impressive high school credentials.
Kamryn Lopez can also be called upon to pitch.
Cabunoc, who last season had Chaminade's lowest ERA at 2.78 and led in wins with 10, may be utilized more out of the bullpen. Last year, Cabunoc's batting average against the first time through the order was .237 but rose dramatically to .345 the second time through.
The schedule
One of the last teams in the NCAA to get their season underway, the Silverswords will jump into the fray immediately. Following their Sunday series against Saint Martin's, they will face two other foes from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference on consecutive days in Western Washington on Tuesday and Simon Fraser on Wednesday.
PacWest action then starts next Friday on Feb. 24 when Biola arrives at Silversword Field in a four-game series. Concordia, the unanimous conference preseason favorite, comes to town on Feb. 28 and March 1 while Azusa Pacific visits on March 6-7.
The 'Swords then jump back into non-conference action against Baldwin Wallace and Emporia State before leaving on their annual two-week trip to California, starting with a March 20 date at Academy of Art. Chaminade will then face Holy Names for the final time ever then closes their conference mainland slate at Dominican. The team wraps up their trip with their usual stop in Turlock, California, for the Tournament of Champions.
Chaminade returns home for their last four series of the season, facing their local brethren, Hawai'i Hilo and Hawai'i Pacific, twice each.
The PacWest Championships follows starting May 3.
