Although the scenarios were as distant as their locales, Courtney Senas and Karine Shaver triggered similar celebrations over the weekend.

Senas, a Mililani graduate, thrilled the folks in Tallahassee, Fla., last Friday by slamming a walk-off home run against Michigan to send Florida State to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2004.

Two days later, Shaver got the festivities started in Eugene, Ore., when the Kamehameha alum squeezed a pop-up for the final out of top-seeded Oregon’s Super Regional sweep of Minnesota.

"It was an unreal experience," Shaver said in a phone interview on Wednesday. "But it didn’t really hit me until my teammates came yelling and screaming at me."

Now that they’re both in Oklahoma City, Senas and Shaver will occupy opposing dugouts on Thursday when Florida State and Oregon meet in an opening-round game at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The game is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Hawaii time and will be televised on ESPN.

The WCWS was regular summertime viewing for Senas over the years and she got quite a bit of airtime on the Worldwide Leader last Friday. Her two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Seminoles a 4-2 win in the deciding game of the Super Regional and earning a spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 that night.

"Around town in Tallahassee people actually kind of know me now," Senas said from Oklahoma City. "It feels cool to have that recognition and making people at home proud is the most important to me."

She kept busy in the following days answering congratulatory messages that flowed in through text messages on her phone and on Facebook.

"It was hard to keep up with at first, because I really wanted to get back to everybody who wrote to me because they wrote some really nice stuff," Senas said. "It was tiring, but I tried my best and I think I got everybody in."

Likewise, Shaver saw an uptick in activity on her phone after Oregon secured a spot in the eight-team WCWS field.

"Mostly friends and family, my old teammates have been messaging me saying good luck," Shaver said.

Speaking of friends and family, both will have ample support in the stands this week. Senas said her mother, sisters, brother, aunties and grandfather are among those making the trip from Hawaii to OKC.

Shaver’s contingent will include two of her past coaches. She played club ball for Ron Mendiola with Guava Jam Black and for Aloha Yamaguchi at Kamehameha.

"All they’ve taught me is carrying me through to this moment," Shaver said. "So that’s really important to me."

Senas will end a decorated four-year run as Florida State’s center fielder in the world series. The senior is hitting .349 and ranks second behind teammate Maddie O’Brien on FSU’s career home run chart with 36. She’s also third in career RBIs (158), fifth in runs scored (180) and seventh in doubles (37).

Shaver’s career at Oregon picked up substantial momentum in her sophomore season. After playing in 22 games as a backup shortstop last year, she started 55 at second base this season for the Ducks, who held the top spot of the national polls for the last six weeks of the regular season.

She’s hitting .241 with two homers and 16 RBIs and has given Oregon steady defense at a position she hadn’t played regularly until this spring.

"I only started playing (second base) a lot right after the fall season, so I had to adjust really quickly," said Shaver, who committed four errors in 141 chances this spring.

Although they’ll be on opposite sides on Thursday, Shaver and Senas take pride in giving the world series an island influence when they take the field this week.

"That’s always cool to be representing Hawaii," Senas said. "Like I tell everybody who asks me, there’s so much talent in Hawaii and a lot of them don’t get the looks they should. A lot of people I played with should be playing D-I ball. Just representing Hawaii and trying to prove something."