Kohala, HPA ready for the present and the future

Both teams return major contributors of the past. At the same time, they’ve also reloaded for the future, making them serious threats to win a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II softball title.

With a strong mixture of established softball players and young talent, Kohala and Hawaii Prep enter the season as front-runners in West Hawaii.

Meanwhile, Kiani Wong leads a Kamehameha-Hawaii team accustomed to making deep postseason runs, while an improved Pahoa team is focused on starting another Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tournament streak after missing out last season.

Below are team-by-team West Hawaii and East Hawaii BIIF Division II softball previews, with teams listed in alphabetical order:

West Hawaii

HAWAII PREP

c Coach: Betsy Tranquilli (seventh season)

c 2011 record: 3-10 (lost to Konawaena 11-7 in playoff berth tiebreaker game)

c Players to watch: Stacie Doi (C, Sr.), Nani Lum (P, Sr.), Camille Kiyota (3B, Jr.), Tiana Tabac-Bertelmann (1B, So.), Chancis Fernandez (CF, So.), Shayla Ignacio (2B, Fr.)

c Between the lines: The nucleus of a team that just missed out on its first playoff appearance in program history returns.

In the circle, Lum doesn’t overpower hitters but makes up for that with excellent control.

Lum will deliver the ball to Doi, one of the island’s best sluggers. Last season, the catcher hit .465 with two home runs and 17 RBIs, earning her first-team West Hawaii All-BIIF honors.

Sophomore Kawena Lim-Samura provides more power in the middle of Ka Makani’s batting order, while Kiyota gives the team a solid contact hitter who also plays steady defense.

Kiyota has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, but Tranquilli expects her back within the next week.

The HPA coach said this year’s team, unlike any other during her tenure, has the depth and talent to overcome injuries.

“We’re very deep, which is something we’ve never had before,’’ Tranquilli said. “In the past (Kiyota’s injury) would have crippled us.”

Tranquilli said the team’s top returning players won’t feel the pressure of trying to carry the team this season. She raved about the improvement of Tabac-Bertelmann and the addition of impact players at the bottom of HPA’s lineup.

“This year, we have a lot of bats,’’ Tranquilli said. “One through nine, we have people who can hit the ball, bunt the ball and run.”

Tranquilli said Tabac-Bertelmann can hit third for any other team because of her power, but Tranquilli wants to take advantage of her speed and base-running instincts at the top of the order.

“She’s a college-caliber player,’’ Tranquilli said.

HPA has more speed at the bottom of the order with two first-year players, basketball stars Fernandez and Ignacio, and they have produced so far.

In a nonconference win over Division I Hilo, Ka Makani’s Nos. 7-9 hitters and Tabac-Bertelmann combined to total eight of the team’s 10 hits.

Another basketball player, Leahi Lindsey, returns to play at shortstop, and Alex Disney is back as an outfielder, giving the team good defense at their respective positions.

Tranquilli said first-year player Ranko Ono, a sophomore, gives HPA some versatility because of her ability to play in the infield and outfield.

HONOKAA

c Coach: Wesley Fujimoto (fourth season)

c 2011 record: 9-8 (lost to Konawaena 7-6 in BIIF final, 1-1 at HHSAA state tournament)

c Players to watch: Kawehi Bell-Kaaekuahiwi (P/1B, Sr.), Allie Shiraki (CF, So.), Shereena Bird (LF, So.), Hailey Paglinawan (P/C/SS, So.)

c Between the lines: The Dragons graduated a wealth of experience, especially in the circle, with the departure of Chelsea Requelman and Huali Alpiche.

Bell-Kaaekuahiwi is the only senior on a roster that also includes just one junior, nine sophomores and four freshmen.

Fujimoto hasn’t tabbed anyone on the team as a No. 1 starter, saying Bell-Kaaekuahiwi, Paglinawan, Kayla Requelman, sophomore Kayla Kalauli, and freshmen Kayla Requelman and Jasmine Castro will all receive opportunities to assume that role.

Offensively, the Dragons have speed at the stop of order with Shiraki, a standout on Honokaa’s soccer team, batting leadoff and Paglinawan hitting second.

Shiraki earned first-team All-BIIF West Hawaii honors last season, hitting .292 with five RBIs.

In the team’s 12-9 season-opening loss to Hawaii Prep, Bell-Kaaekuahiwi went 2-for-3 with two triples out of the cleanup spot. Paglinawan displayed similar power last season with runners on base.

Bird, a guard on the Dragons’ basketball team, and Shiraki give the team two stout defenders in the outfield, but Fujimoto said a handful of defensive miscues cost the team in its loss to HPA.

KOHALA

c Coach: Terrence Alcoran (second season)

c 2011 record: 11-5 (beat Kamehameha-Hawaii 12-2 in third-place game, 0-2 at HHSAA state tournament)

c Players to watch: Chyler Imai (P, Sr.), Tiani Luga (3B/P, Jr.), Tomiko Coito (C, Fr.), Denae Rivera (SS, Fr.), Casey Utemei (1B, Sr.), Ashlyn Van Zandt (2B/P, Fr.)

c Between the lines: The Cowgirls enjoyed a dramatic turnaround going from 5-8 to 11-5, and Imai played a big role.

The senior pitcher earned first-team All-BIIF West Hawaii honors, relying on her pinpoint control, pitching to contact and trusting her defense to make plays behind her.

The Cowgirls’ defense may have gotten better this year with an infusion of young talent.

Alcoran has three freshmen — Coito (catcher), Rivera (shortstop) and Van Zandt (second base) — playing at key positions on the field.

“They’re terrific — very good on defense,’’ Alcoran said.

And Alcoran said all of them swing the bat well, too.

The trio, combined with two established offensive threats in Luga and Utemei, should make Kohala’s offensive formidable throughout the year.

Batting third, Luga has home-run power, and she showed it in pressure situations last season. Utemei, who will move from shortstop to first base, bats cleanup, followed by Rivera and Coito.

Kohala’s leadoff batter, senior Jordelle Antonio, provides speed and strong defense in left field for a Cowgirls team intent on winning its first BIIF title in four years.

“We want to take first — that’s our goal,’’ Alcoran said.

KONAWAENA

c Coach: Shellie Grace (first season)

c 2011 record: 7-10 (beat Honokaa 7-0 in BIIF final, 0-1 at HHSAA state tournament)

c Players to watch: Saxon Nagata (CF, Jr.), Alexis Fujikawa (1B/P, Jr.), Bethany Balucan (2B/P, Fr.), Kaua Mitchell (SS, Jr.), Pualani Ubando (RF, So.)

c Between the lines: Graduating three major contributors in Staysha Galigo, Kamalani Grace and Rachel Omija was hard enough for two-time defending champion Konawaena.

Then catcher Tanalei Louis transferred to Waiakea, and starting shortstop Dayanara Tabil went to Pahoa, creating other holes to fill.

But those holes, Shellie Grace said, has created good, healthy competition for starting spots.

“We have a young team, and people will have the opportunity to earn positions on the field.”

Fujikawa brings experience in the pitching circle, and Grace said she has improved.

“She’s pretty consistent,’’ the Konawaena coach said of Fujikawa, who will also bat cleanup. “She looks like she’s much stronger this season.”

The Wildcats will also call on Balucan to pitch, and Grace also values the freshman’s offensive production out of the No. 3 spot in the lineup.

Grace said sophomore Anu Binney and freshman Jashea Leleiwi give Konawaena much-needed pitching depth.

The team will also lean on Nagata and Mitchell for offense in the middle of the lineup, and both can field their positions well.

The Wildcats have just two seniors, but Grace has been pleased with the team’s work ethic.

“Everybody’s been working to get the position they want,’’ she said.

East Hawaii

KAMEHAMEHA-HAWAII

c Coach: Gary Ahu (first season)

c 2011 record: 6-6 (lost to Kohala 12-2 in BIIF tournament third-place game)

c Players to watch: Kiani Wong (P/SS, Sr.), Gayla Ha-Cabebe (C, So.), Samantha Simmons (P/SS, Fr.), Namele Naipo-Arsiga (OF, Jr.),

c Between the lines: Wong, arguably the island’s best pitcher over the past three years, is recovering from a hip injury.

Ahu said his star player won’t pitch until she’s 100 percent healthy. In the meantime, junior Janell Cameros and Simmons will see time in the circle.

Wong, a power hitter who can hit from both sides of the plate, will bat either leadoff or cleanup in the Warriors’ batting order.

Ahu said Ha-Cabebe can also slug out of the No. 3 spot in the order. Ahu has also been impressed with Simmons and Naipo-Arsiga, a basketball standout hitting second in the order even though she’s playing varsity softball for the first time.

Ahu, who pegged juniors Elizabeth Kia and Jaylen Shiroma as other key offensive contributors, said the Warriors have hit well as a whole. However, the Kamehameha coach said the team’s defense must improve.

PAHOA

c Coach: Frank Degele (seventh season)

c 2011 record: 2-9 (lost 13-0 to Konawaena in first-round BIIF tournament game)

c Players to watch: Erin Martinez (P/1B/2B, Sr.), Vaaigaomata Wilson (P/C, Sr.), Randi-Lee Berinobis (INF, So.), Kayla Silva (LF, Jr.), Samantha Lee-McDougal (CF, Sr.)

c Between the lines: Degele likes his two-pitcher rotation of Martinez and Wilson, with Martinez already turning in a pitching gem in the team’s season-opening 14-2 win over Kamehameha.

“They have a lot of poise this year, and they both have about the same decent (velocity),’’ Degele said.

The seniors will also form the nucleus of an offense Degele believes can score runs consistently this season.

Berinobis played organized softball for the first time last season, but the sophomore has made great strides in all phases of the game, prompting Degele to use her in the cleanup spot.

Degele said Silva has also performed well offensively out of the No. 5 spot, and the Pahoa coach likes Lee-McDougal’s ability to cover ground in center field.

Both Lee-McDougal and Martinez earned first-team All-BIIF East Hawaii honors last season.

Degele said the Daggers would like to enter the BIIF tournament as either the East Hawaii Division II regular-season champion or the East Hawaii runner-up.

He said the team must establish consistency defensively in order to do so.

“If the defense gets up, we’ll give teams some hard rubs,’’ Degele said.

Ka‘u coach Donald Garo could not be reached by press time to obtain information on his softball team.