Right from the start, Danielle Garcielita set a lively pace to her University of Hawaii softball career.
After deciding to transfer from North Carolina, Garcielita was back home in Whittier, Calif., last summer when she contacted Rainbow Wahine coach Bob Coolen, who happened to be in Huntington Beach but was about to leave for a wedding.
“They did not miss a heartbeat,” Coolen recalled of his initial meeting with Garcielita and her mother. “I told them I was leaving in about an hour and they made it down in 45 minutes (and) had a 15-minute interview. … They were just so energetic, her and her mom, and everything just unfolded from there.
“She really wanted to come here and opened a lot of doors for me recruiting-wise because a lot of other interest is now flowing in.”
Garcielita enrolled about two weeks before the start of classes in Manoa and was penciled in as UH’s starting center fielder and leadoff hitter by the end of fall practice.
| BANK OF HAWAII INVITATIONAL
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
When: Today-Sunday
TV/Radio: none
Schedule:
Today–No. 5 Oregon vs. Hawaii, 6 p.m.
Friday–Oregon vs. Montana, 1:30 p.m.; Oregon vs. UNLV, 4 p.m.; UNLV vs. Hawaii, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday–Montana vs. Oregon, 10 a.m.; Montana vs. UNLV, noon; Oregon vs. Hawaii, 2 p.m.; UNLV vs. Hawaii, 4 p.m.
Sunday–UNLV vs. Montana, 10 a.m.; Montana vs. Hawaii, noon.
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The speedy 5-foot-1 lefty slap-hitter has sparked the Rainbow Wahine (4-3) this spring by hitting safely in each of UH’s first seven games heading into this week’s Bank of Hawaii Invitational.
Garcielita enters today’s matchup with No. 5 Oregon (9-0) at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium with a team-high .478 batting average and .556 on-base percentage. She went 8-for-14 in four games in the DeMarini Desert Classic in Las Vegas last week to ignite a UH attack that averaged 9.5 hits per game.
“My role as a leadoff batter is to see as many pitches as possible in order for my teammates behind me to do a better job,” Garcielita said. “Anything to help and pick up my teammates, that’s my job.”
After a decorated career at La Serna High School, Garcielita made 32 starts and hit .200 over the last two seasons at North Carolina with her primary contributions coming as a pinch runner.
In making the decision to transfer, Garcielita said she was looking “to really get an opportunity to show my true potential as a ballplayer.”
Relocating to Hawaii also offered a chance to play in front of family members on a more regular basis.
Her mother, Kathleen (Rodrigues) Garcielita, attended Waipahu High School before going on to pitch at Whittier College, where she was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame in 1998.
“My grandparents (Josephine and Daniel Rodrigues) are still here so having the opportunity to come to Hawaii and represent the place where my mother grew up and who is my inspiration for playing softball was a really big deal for me,” Garcielita said.
So far, Garcielita has contributed to four of Coolen’s 997 career wins as the Wahine prepare to host Oregon, UNLV (7-2) and Montana (4-5) over a four-day tournament.
As Coolen approaches a milestone, the 26th-year head coach said he’s more focused on a team batting average that jumped to .298 last week than on No. 1,000.
“That’s all I’ve been concerned about, where we’re going to go next with the lineup and the pitching rotation,” Coolen said.
The tournament will also be a homecoming for UNLV juniors Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez (Mililani) and Chrissi Omalza (Moanalua).
