Lunas Fall Short in Softball Comeback Bid

By Fred Guzman

It was a sobering day and night for the MIL in the state softball tournaments on Oahu as only one of four teams managed a victory.

The most painful setback was suffered by fourth-seeded Lahainaluna, which fell behind 5-0 to Castle and then had its comeback bid fall just short in a 5-4 quarterfinal loss in the Division-I tourney at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The Lunas started their rally in the sixth inning with a pair of runs on RBI singles by Hope Morikawa and Makana Hussey.

Lahainaluna closed to within a run on a homer by Haley Ann Nakamura and a fielder’s choice grounder by Morikawa. But Castle escaped the seventh-inning jam to earn a berth in tonight’s semifinals versus Campbell.

There was no miracle finish to bail out Baldwin. A night after overcoming a 3-0 deficit by scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh against Mililani, the Lady Bears were routed, 13-1, in six innings by Mid-Pacific.

The Owls amassed 17 hits while scoring nine of their runs over the third and fourth innings of a game that was twice briefly delayed because of rain. Baldwin managed just two hits of Keiki Carlos.

In other quarterfinal games, Leilehua routed Waiakea 12-0 in six innings and Campbell defeated Kapolei 8-6.

The two MIL D-I teams were relegated to the consolation bracket. Baldwin will meet Waiakea at 9 a.m. and the Lunas will face Kapolei at 11 o’clock.

Today’s D-I semifinal pairings: Campbell versus Castle at 5 p.m. and Mid-Pac versus Leilehua at 7 o’clock.

In D-II consolation action, Molokai beat Kohala 7-1 while Hana was eliminated from the tourney following a 15-2, five-inning loss Honokaa. Molokai will next meet Honokaa at 7 tonight.

The D-II semifinal matchups: Pac-Five versus Waipahu at 1 o’clock and St. Francis versus Kahuku at 3 p.m.