Kamehameha entered the HHSAA state tournament with an unbeaten record and high expectations.
Sometimes, life throws you a big curveball.
The No. 3 seed Warriors lost their last two games, including a 5-2 defeat to St. Francis on Saturday to finish in fourth place at Maui’s Patsy Mink Softball Stadium.
One reason Kamehameha finished with a 21-2 record and captured its fifth straight BIIF championship was because of a trio of seniors in Kekai Wong Yuen, Mykala Tokunaga, and Makena Wagner.
They were the heart of the order hitters as the Nos. 3-4-5 batters in the lineup, respectively, and Tokunaga served as the four-year pitching ace.
Even better, each served as perfect student-athlete role-model. They are all pursuing higher education and going to play college ball.
Tokunaga will head to Division II Sonoma State while Wagner will tackle the tough academics of Smith College, a Division III school in Massachusetts. Wong Yuen will walk on at Colorado College to play soccer.
Of the three, Tokunaga will be the hardest to replace because of her two-way value as a hitter and pitcher. (For college coaches, that’s a bargain to essentially get two players on one scholarship.)
Since statewide classification started in 2004, Tokunaga has been the league’s most accomplished player. She’s the reigning three-time BIIF player of the year.
Tokunaga went the distance in the loss. In six innings, the right-handed ace allowed five runs (one unearned) on 10 hits and two walks and struck out three.
At the plate, Tokunaga went 0 for 1 with an RBI. Wong Yuen batted 1 for 3 with a run scored while Wagner was 0 for 2.
The other seniors on the team are Maya Kalalau and Gabrielle Victor. Each went 0 for 1.
Shaye Simms pitched four innings of one-run ball for the win. Tiare Gurrero finished with two innings of one-run relief for the ILH Saints (10-9).
In the fifth, Kamehameha second baseman Taylor Sullivan cranked a solo homer to center field. She went 1 for 2 with an RBI.
Taylor will be part of a young nucleus for the Warriors next season. She is just a sophomore, along with outfielder Jessica Cameros.
Kamehameha coach Gary Ahu started two promising freshmen in first baseman Kuulei Ili and third baseman Nevaeh Fukui-Stoos.
The other starters are a pair of juniors in shortstop Kiarra Lincoln and outfielder Elexis Emmsley, who will share the senior leadership mantle.
They can draw on the words of senior sage Wagner, who earlier in the season described what made the Warriors so close-knit.
It really starts from the top with Ahu, a coach of few words but an owner of an oversized heart.
During Kamehameha’s college signing ceremony, though he doesn’t like the attention, Ahu gives heartfelt speeches about his Warriors.
In a BIIF game in March, Wagner noted the significance of Ahu’s ritual when a batter looked at him for signs.
He would always point to his eyes and heart.
“That’s the eye of the tiger, to be aggressive,” Wagner said. “The other is heart and family, to leave it all on the field and play for your family, not yourself.”
The Warriors did that in every game, and in coach Ahu’s eyes they finished as champions — no matter their standing at states.
St. Francis 301 010 — 5 10 1
Kamehameha 000 110 — 2 2 1