Instant Impact

In recounting some of their softball travels, Leisha Li‘ili‘i and Kayla Wartner figured out they’d met— however briefly — well before they converged at the University of Hawaii.

Part of a blur of games packed into summers filled with club-ball tournaments, some of the details of the matchup between Li‘ili‘i’s Hawaii Gold team and Wartner’s San Diego Legacy are a little hazy … such as which team ended up winning that game.

"Probably us," Wartner said with a laugh.

"I have a feeling we won," Li‘ili‘i replied, "just saying."

Now that they’ve found their way to the same side of the diamond, the Rainbow Wahine freshmen have put together highly memorable starts to their college careers.

Both have started all 17 games this season, Wartner at catcher and Li‘ili‘i at designated player, and have contributed significantly to UH’s season-opening winning streak.

Li‘ili‘i enters this week’s Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament as UH’s second-leading hitter while Wartner has made a smooth transition to college ball both behind the plate and in the batter’s box.

"They were projected to be immediate-impact players to be inserted into the lineup and make a difference, and they have succeeded," UH head coach Bob Coolen said. "They’re going to get better and they just need to stay patient."

The 19th-ranked Wahine (17-0) open the four-day tournament against Radford today at 6 p.m., weather permitting.

Li‘ili‘i goes into the tournament hitting .419 from the left side of the plate with 18 runs batted in and three home runs. Her five strikeouts in 50 plate appearances is the lowest total among the UH starters.

After building a reputation as one of the state’s most feared hitters during her career at Castle High School, Li‘ili‘i used the fall practice season to get up to speed with college-level pitching.

"The power was there, it was my timing, My timing was really off," said Li‘ili‘i, last year’s Star-Advertiser All-State position player of the year.

Coolen said she made the adjustment by the end of the fall and her first collegiate hit was a towering three-run home run against Missouri-Kansas City in the second game of the season.

"At first I didn’t have that much confidence in myself," said Li‘ili‘i, whose father, Jeff, played football at UH. "I feel that was the missing piece. Now I know I just have to believe in myself."

Wartner is hitting .370 with 13 RBIs and her lone home run marked a pivotal moment in UH’s winning streak. After UH was held hitless for five innings in a rematch with UMKC, Wartner led off the sixth with a shot to center field in a 1-0 victory.

Behind the plate, she’s contributed to UH’s team earned-run average of 0.78 in calling pitches for senior Stephanie Ricketts (10-0, 0.88) and junior Kaia Parnaby (7-0, 0.64), a skill she’s grown comfortable with since her junior year at Escondido (Calif.) High School.

"There’s just so much you have to think about on each pitch," Wartner said. "Where (is the hitter) standing in the box, how’s their swing, what’s Steph or Kaia throwing well, what’s their go-to pitch. … There’s so much going on, but you get used to it. Once you start to know your pitchers better, then your calling gets better."

Wartner is the second left-handed freshman to start at catcher in the past two seasons and said she clicked quickly with Ricketts and Parnaby in the fall. Coolen recalls questioning a pitch call only a couple of times so far and Wartner’s emergence allowed him to utilize sophomore Sharla Kliebenstein’s range and arm strength in right field after she started all 55 games at catcher last season.

In joining a roster stacked with juniors and seniors, Li‘ili‘i and Wartner both said they were welcomed into the team early on and thought they’d begin their careers as role players. Turns out those roles have been more extensive than either expected.

"I didn’t expect to be catching or hitting or anything," Wartner said. "It’s kinda cool though."