Campbell throttles Kapolei

Everything worked for the Campbell softball team at the right time.

Kawehi Kahana hit two home runs and drove in six, and Summer Palipti held Kapolei hitless through five innings as Campbell pounded Kapolei 10-0 to win the OIA Red championship at Central Oahu Regional Park on Friday night.

"We just didn’t want to give up," Campbell coach Michael Hermosura said. "We wanted to set all of the mistakes aside and keep fighting."

The Sabers were less than their stellar selves in the regular season but turned it on for the playoffs to earn their third straight title. Campbell was 4-5 at midseason, and Kapolei starter Kacee Navarro made them look like that inexperienced bunch in the first inning of Saturday’s championship. The Sabers ended their OIA season 10-5.

Navarro struck out the side in order in the top of the first. The second was not so kind to her, though, as Nashlynn Anguay reached on an error at first base and Kahana followed it with a long home run to left field to put Campbell up 2-0. Navarro got the next three batters in order, striking out two of them.

But the Sabers would be back to pester Navarro in the third. Navarro walked Chardonay Pantastico to lead off the inning and Tiana Rosario singled to shallow left. Pantastico found herself picked off at third base but got into a long rundown until Kapolei (9-7) finally dropped the ball and allowed her to score. Caragh Morris drove in another run with a single that dropped in among three Kapolei defenders — the second fly that should have been caught in the inning — in short right field, and Anguay followed with Campbell’s third walk of the inning to load the bases. The problem with that was she had nowhere to put Kahana, who drilled a 3-0 pitch to the gap in left-center for her second home run and sixth RBI.

"Coach told me to take a strike," Kahana said. "But I just couldn’t do it, the pitch was too good."

Kahana was 0-for-4 with a walk against Kapolei in the regular season. The teams split their meetings in the regular season, with each team winning at home.

The Sabers scored one more run in the fourth on two Kapolei errors, and the game ended via the mercy rule when Palipti drove Cydney Curran in from third with a double off the fence.

"We tried to pitch around her; we just couldn’t find a hole," Kapolei coach Tony Saffery said. "I have the ultimate respect for that kid — she swings the bat hard. We tried hard."

Palipti didn’t allow a runner after a shaky first inning, when Campbell committed its only error and she allowed her only walk. She was perfect after that.

"She is one of those poker-face players," Hermosura said. "She doesn’t show much outside, but she always battles inside."