Lohi Kamakea-Wong’s value to Keaau, at least in the pitching circle Tuesday, was made apparent in the first round of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I softball state tournament.
The sophomore ace didn’t pitch. The right-hander has been the workhorse all season. And the Cougars missed her dearly.
Mililani banged out 15 hits over four innings against her replacements, her cousin Shaniya Kamakea-Wong and Rylann Hacoba, and walloped Keaau 15-0 in a first-round, mercy-rule game at Rainbow Wahine Stadium on Oahu.
Keaau (11-7), the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up, will play the Punahou-Waipahu loser at 11 a.m. today in a consolation game.
BIIF champion Hilo (15-2) will play the Moanalua at 1 p.m. today in the quarterfinals.
Lohi Kamakea-Wong started at second base and went 0-for-2. Ayanna Silva went 1-for-2, and Cynthia Nakaima was 1-for-1, the only Cougars to scratch hits off Trojans starter Joen Baker, who combined with Aubree Kim for a two-hitter.
Shaniya Kamakea-Wong went three innings in the loss and gave up 11 runs, surrendering a three-run homer to Kylie-Anne Bello in a seven-run first inning. Hacoba pitched an inning and was tagged for four runs.
Bello batted 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and third baseman Jade Yadao-Valdez had an even better day, going 4-for-4 with five RBIs to spark the Trojans (15-1), the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s No. 5 team.
State golf
Hawaii Prep senior Andrew Paisley fired a 4-over-par 75 in the first round Tuesday at the Kaanapali Golf Course on Maui, sitting 10 strokes back of Punahou junior PJ Samiere. Moanalua senior John Oda and Mid-Pacific senior Skye Inakoshi are tied at 3-under 68, three shots back.
Paisley, who’s tied for 11th, had two birdies on the front nine, but a bogey on the par 4 sixth hole canceled that momentum. Still, he started the back nine at even par but ran into a rough patch with bogeys on the 10th, 13th, 16th and last holes.
The next BIIF golfer on the scoreboard was Konawaena senior Hoeueu Greenwell, who carded a 7-over 78 and is tied for 28th. Makua Lani’s Pono Ng, Kealakehe senior Steve Kim and Hilo senior Davin Yagi each shot 79 and were tied for 34th.
In the team standings, Punahou shot a 5-under for a 279 total. Moanalua was next with a 292, and BIIF champion Hilo was eighth out of 10 squads at 329.
Water polo
c Hawaii Prep 6, Kaiser 5: Senior Anu Nihipali netted a hat trick to lift Ka Makani into the quarterfinals in Honolulu.
Senior Bhillie Luciani added two goals for HPA (9-4) and junior Hannah Twigg-Smith also scored. The Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up draws six-time defending champion and top-seeded Punahou (6-0) out of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu at 7:30 p.m. today at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex for a berth in the semifinals.
Jessie Watkins scored twice for the Cougars (11-5), the third-place team from the Oahu Interscholastic Association, and Taylor Bogdan, Maegan Murphy and Corrine Shigeta each added goals.
After a bye, BIIF champion Kamehameha (12-0) faces Iolani at 6 p.m. today in the quarterfinals. The Red Raiders (4-4), the ILH runner-up, cruised past the OIA’s Mililani 12-2 in behind two goals apiece from Madison Obata, Taryn Aranador, Mollie Taylor and Hiana Harpstrite.
