The Waiakea softball team’s winning streak is long gone and so is its aura of invincibility.
The Warriors say that’s just what they needed, and accordingly they’re right where they need to be heading into the crucial stretch of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation season.
Skyler Agrigado, Anela Granito-Wallace and Ariana Mareko each collected two run-scoring hits in the fifth inning Thursday as Waiakea scored 13 times to put away Pahoa 21-4 entering its Division I East Hawaii showdown.
Chelsea Camello was 2-for-3 and worked four innings in the circle for Waiakea (12-2), which will be back at its home field at 1 p.m. Saturday against Hilo (11-3) in a battle for the East’s top seed at the BIIF semifinals.
The Vikings tagged their rivals in a 10-0 mercy-rule win April 5, and that combined with an earlier defeat to Keaau that ended Waiakea’s 59-game BIIF winning streak seemingly had the Warriors reeling.
Not so, Waiakea coach Bo Saiki said — it was just what the doctor ordered.
“They realized they were no longer unbeatable, and they settled down, especially the offense,” he said.
The Warriors have responded with five consecutive victories, the last four via mercy rule. If Waiakea wins Saturday, it will host the Vikings again in the BIIF semifinals Tuesday, while Keaau (10-4) would travel to Kealakehe (7-4). A Vikings’ victory would send Waiakea to Kealakehe and give Hilo a chance to host Keaau in a semifinal.
“After the losses, I think we became stronger and better,” Waiakea junior shortstop Brandi Maximo said. “It made me want to do a better job of picking up my teammates and helping them out.”
Pahoa starter Erin Martinez didn’t allow any earned runs in the the middle innings, when she had command of her pitches, but she fell into trouble when she started walking batters. She issued five free passes in the first inning as Waiakea scored six runs, and she walked four more and hit two batters in the fifth as Waiakea’s first nine batters reached.
The Warriors’ Nos. 3-5 hitters had six of their team’s seven hits in the fifth. Agrigado belted a two-run double against reliever Randi Lee Berinobis, and Mareko followed with a two-run single. In her first at-bat of the inning, Granito-Wallace reached Martinez for a two-run single.
Mareko finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs, Granito-Wallace was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Alexis Anzai was 2-for-4. Kawehi Granito-Wallace ripped an RBI triple in the first.
“We’ve just practiced a lot on our hitting the last couple of weeks to get our bats going,” said Agrigado, a senior third baseman who was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. “We kind of got a little big-headed thinking we could just pull through, but the losses gave us more motivation to push harder and work more as a team.”
Pahoa (3-11) got the win it needed Monday in beating Ka‘u to earn the East No. 2 seed in the Division II playoffs. The Daggers will host West No. 3 Konawaena (4-7) at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the first round.
“It’s going to be up-and-up, because to me all of the Division II teams are equal,” coach Frank Degele said. “(Erin) tried to overpower Waiakea, and you can’t do it. When she slowed her pitches down, she did better.”
Martinez, hurt by costly errors in the first and third, yielded 19 runs —15 earned — on nine hits and nine walks with a strikeout in 4 1/3 innings.
Trailing 8-0, Pahoa batted around against Camello to score three runs in the third. Samantha Lee McDougal led off the inning with a single and scored on a wild pitch, and Vaaigaomata Wilson added a run-scoring hit.
Waiakea 602 0(13) — 21 13 2
Pahoa 003 01 — 4 4 3
c Kamehameha-Hawaii 10, Ka‘u 0: Kiani Wong struck out 10 to shut out the Trojans in the circle and was 2 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs as the host Warriors finished the regular season 6-9.
Gayla Ha-Cabebe was 2 for 2 for Kamehameha, which had already clinched the East No. 1 seed and bye into the BIIF Division II semifinals. As the East No. 3 seed, Ka‘u (1-14) will travel to West No. 2 Honokaa (6-5) on Wednesday in the first round of the playoffs with the winner moving on to face Kamehameha on April 27 in Keaau.
Wong walked two in a game that ended after five innings because of the league’s mercy rule.
Shaylin Navarro had a hit for Ka‘u and took the loss, allowing 10 hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Ka‘u 000 00 — 0 2 3
Kamehameha 433 0x —10 6 4
