Giving up two home runs to Campbell nearly always amounts to sealing your losing fate, and that’s how it went down Saturday for Leilehua in a 7-4 softball loss to the Sabers.

Take Campbell’s power hitting away and it was an evenly played Oahu Interscholastic Association West contest at the Kaala Elementary School field. Deep shots by Cieana Curran and Anastasia Iosia accounted for four of the two-time defending Division I state champion Sabers’ runs.

“That three-run homer (by Curran) and the (solo) home run by Iosia were big pluses for us,” said Campbell coach Michael Hermosura, whose second-ranked team reaped the benefits of Curran’s new spot up a few pegs to fourth in the order.

Now with three homers this season, Curran is batting one slot after Jocelyn Alo, a fierce power hitter with so much respect that most opposing hurlers would rather put her on base with a walk than let her make contact. It’s going to be a tough back-to-back combo to get out as the season progresses.

“Without those home runs, it’s a game,” Mules coach Stacy Araki said. “When you take chances on pitches, it’s always possible any good batter can get ahold of one.”

After scoring on an error in the second, Campbell went up 4-0 in the third on Curran’s shot to center.

The lead was far from safe. Staisa Micky’s two-run single in the bottom of the third and Pomai Nahulu’s RBI hit in the fourth brought the Mules back to 4-3.

“We’ve been working hard on making contact and we’ve been getting more hits, so it’s working, but there are still a few batters who are (over swinging),” Araki said.

Eighth-ranked Leilehua (4-3) outhit Campbell 7-6, but failed in its attempt to catch the Sabers (6-1) in the standings. Top-ranked Pearl City (6-1) is tied with Campbell at the top in the West, and No. 6 Mililani (5-2) is right behind.

In the fifth, the Sabers made it 7-3 on Chloe Domingo’s two-run single and Iosia’s solo shot to center.

After some early struggles, Campbell complete-game winning pitcher Dani Cervantes got into a groove. She fanned 10 and allowed only two hits over the final three innings.

“I’m proud of my teammates because we hadn’t been putting many runs on the board,” Cervantes said. “I think I could have done more. Too many walks (three) and hit batters (two). There was a concern when it was 4-3, but I just stuck to my technique.”

Kaena Nistal went the distance in the loss and struck out 10, but also walked six.

“If we challenge them again, I think we’ll do good,” said Nistal, whose team lost to Campbell 5-2 earlier in the season.

Through six innings, the Sabers had no errors, but they committed three fielding miscues in the seventh and that allowed the Mules to get one run back to make it 7-4. Mikayla Pinera, a courtesy runner for Gianna Araki who led off with a single, advanced to third on two of those errors and came home on a fielder’s choice when Alo, the Campbell catcher, threw to second in an attempt to catch Sarah Honda stealing. The throw went into center and Honda moved to third, where she was left stranded after Cervantes struck out Kayla Hale to end it.

Hermosura said Cervantes is just getting over the flu and is recovering from a back strain.

“We thought about resting her this week, but she wanted the ball,” he said. “Leilehua was sitting on her fastball (early) before she started to mix it up.

“Overall, we’re pushing (our players) and having fun at the same time and trying to build their confidence.”