HONOLULU – On the final day of the 2023 season, the Chaminade University softball team was in position to earn a berth to the Pacific West Conference Softball Championships. It came down to getting two wins over in-city rival Hawai'i Pacific University.
However, those hopes were dashed when the Sharks took both games and claimed the berth for themselves.
Ten months after the bitter disappointment, the Silverswords are determined to reach the PacWest's upper four and a chance to reach the postseason for the first time in program history.
The 'Swords open the season Friday in Irvine, California, at the Fourth Annual Concordia Kickoff Classic, hosted by PacWest member Concordia University Irvine, which marks their first-ever appearance in the prestigious tournament. They will be tested from the start, facing defending West Region champion Cal State San Marcos, ranked No. 7 in the NFCA Preseason Coaches Poll, in the opener followed later that evening against Stanislaus State.
Coming off their most successful season in a decade, 19th year head coach
Kent Yamaguchi is hoping this year's squad led by six seniors will take them to uncharted territory called the NCAA Regionals. Four of the "super seniors" elected to use the NCAA season-of-competition waiver, which granted them another season of eligibility after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 season and cut short the 2021 year.
The Silverswords returns seven positional starters – a record six of whom were All-PacWest selections – and three pitchers from last year's squad that was among the conference offensive leaders after moving into their new home field, Silversword Field at Sand Island Park.
The team is hoping their successful exhibition action at last November's Fall Preseason Classic, highlighted by their 5-3 upset over Division I Hawai'i – their first-ever win over their Manoa counterparts, – will carry over into the start of the spring.
Infielders
Headlining the group is all-conference first team and all-West Region senior catcher
Keaolani Takemura-Brehme (Pearl City, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute), who finished in the PacWest's top three in batting average (.389), OPS (1.039), slugging percentage (.584) and RBI (41). She also led the conference and was among the national leaders with 11 triples, which shattered the school's single season record while her 0.24 triples per game average led Division II. Her monstrous numbers got her selected to the 2024 Preseason All-PacWest Team.
Kobe Brown (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) returns for her fifth year as the 'Swords' starting first baseman. One of the four super seniors, Brown is one of the top defenders in school history with a .994 career fielding percentage. Last season, she hit .264 with a career-high 14 RBI.
Getting the probable nod at third base is another super senior
Jaeda Kumaewa-Cabunoc (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Roosevelt) who earned All-PacWest Second Team honors at third base after hitting .284 and setting career-bests with 14 RBI and 21 runs while flashing a steady glove and arm at the hot corner. She also made 10 pitching appearances, going 3-3 with a 2.55 ERA, although Yamaguchi will try to keep her out of the circle this season.
Returning at shortstop is All-PacWest Third Team honoree
Taryn Fujioka (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) who put a full arsenal on display last season, showing both lightning and thunder. The junior flashed plenty of speed, breaking the school record with a PacWest-leading 46 runs and finishing sixth in the conference with 13 stolen bases. One of her two home runs was of the inside-the-park variety. Fujioka also had some pop with five triples with her second homer going over the fence at Dominican. She also is a stellar defender with a powerful arm.
For the first time since 2018, the Silverswords will have a starter at second base not named
Cheyne Obara, whose athletic eligibility expired last season. The likely candidate to replace the 2022 PacWest Defensive Player of the Year is another fifth-year senior in
Kailah Gates-Coyaso (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waianae), who started all five games at the keystone in the fall exhibitions. The All-PacWest Second Team utility player was a true Swiss Army pocketknife last season, getting starts in six different areas of the field including 21 in right field and 13 at catcher. Gates-Coyaso set career-highs in batting average (.243), hits (27) and run (19) while still earning a .959 fielding percentage.
Helping the 'Swords with infield depth include sophomore
Elora Tonaki (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Hawai'i Technology Academy), junior college transfer
Desiree Bravo (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College/Centennial HS) and freshman
Summer Buck (Honolulu/Kaiser).
Larchelle Tuifao (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kapolei), who had a breakthrough sophomore campaign that saw her earn All-PacWest Third Team and All-West Region honors at designated player, can provide some help at catcher.
Outfielders
All-PacWest Second Team and 2024 Preseason All-PacWest honoree
Chasity McKean (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/College of Southern Nevada/Kapolei HS) is back to patrol centerfield. Last season, the super senior hit .331, improving her batting average by a whopping .176 percentage points from her junior year, to go along with 25 RBI. She also had a perfect fielding percentage despite the demands of the position.
The battle in left field is between
Haley Hayakawa (Torrance, Calif./South) and
Isabel Rodriguez (Littleton, Colo./Columbine). Hayakawa, a senior, has been the starter since her freshman year but has been riddled by injuries the past two seasons. Meanwhile, Rodriguez filled in nicely when Hayakawa was out, hitting .293 with 13 runs and a homer in her rookie season. Both provided the 'Swords with walk-off hits last season with Hayakawa beating Biola, one of her two career walk-offs, and Rodriguez against Hawai'i Hilo.
In right field,
Bailey Jacobsen (Buena Park, Calif./Cypress) and Gates-Coyaso split time last year with the former getting 23 starts and the latter making 21. With Gates-Coyaso likely moving full-time to second base, Jacobsen, who started all five exhibition games at UH, is the likely candidate on Opening Day. The junior had a solid fall tournament, highlighted by a game-tying, three-run home run with two outs in the seventh inning to help the 'Swords in their upset over the Rainbow Wahine.
Tonaki, who saw time in three games last season in the outfield, can also help provide depth in all three spots as will Bravo and freshman utility
Vanessa Pena (Paramount, Calif./Paramount).
Pitchers
Taylor Genera, a four-year starter whose 20 career wins are eighth all-time, has moved on while Kumaewa-Cabunoc will concentrate on third base duties. That leaves sophomores
Bailey Benson (Cheney, Wash./Gonzaga Preparatory),
Ashley Ogata (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) and
Kamryn Lopez (Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial) as the Silverswords' returnees in the circle. The trio made 57 combined appearances with Benson and Ogata getting 18 starts between them.
The southpaw Benson demonstrated quality stuff at times including a dominant complete-game shutout of Central Washington in Turlock, California, last April.
Ogata last season went 6-4 and a 3.33 ERA, co-leading the team with 20 strikeouts with a save. Her 2023 highlight was getting Chaminade's first win over perennial PacWest power Concordia since 2000. She also got the victory in the 'Swords' fall upset of UH Manoa, allowing just three singles in the final five innings.
After making seven relief appearances, Lopez made two starts at the end of the 2023 season, both against Hawai'i Hilo, getting the win in her starting debut on April 15.
Pena is the 'Swords' fourth pitcher, as the freshman will be looked upon for innings out of the bullpen.
The Schedule
After Friday's competition against CSU San Marcos and Stan State, the 'Swords get Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Monterey Bay in Saturday's Day 2 of the Concordia Kickoff Classic, then completes the tournament Sunday against former West Region champion Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Following a final exhibition tune up against Josai International of Japan on Feb. 12, the Silverswords make their regular season home opener against the University of Texas Permian Basin on Feb. 14. Two days later, fellow West Region foe Western Oregon makes a house call to Silversword Field.
Their PacWest opener is a March 3 home date against HPU with Dominican coming in for the team's first four-game conference series starting March 9. The 'Swords then open a 14-game road swing, starting with a March 16 non-conference twin bill at HPU. Their first mainland conference series begins March 26 at Concordia followed by contests at Biola and Azusa Pacific as the 'Swords will look to win their first-ever PacWest game in Southern California.
The 'Swords return home for a home series on April 6 against Academy of Art then will face UH Hilo in Honolulu on April 13, the first of six straight games meetings against the Vulcans. The April 13 doubleheader is designated as conference games while the April 14 twin bill are non-conference and will also be Senior Day.
The teams will have a conference doubleheader on April 20 in Hilo and then wraps up the regular season on April 27 in what is likely to be their final appearance at the historic Howard Okita Field in Kaneohe.
Notably absent from the schedule is the annual Tournament of Champions in Turlock, California. The Silverswords will not be a participant, ending a run of 20 straight years in the mid-season classic.
The PacWest Tournament will be on May 1-3 at Dominican. The top four teams in the conference standings will earn a bid to determine the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA West Regionals, which starts the following week at a campus site.
