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Two first-team All-State selections and three California standouts headline the University of Hawaii softball team’s signing class for the 2017 season.
Campbell shortstop Chardonnay Pantastico and Maryknoll outfielder Bree Soma signed their National Letters of Intent at the Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance ceremony on Wednesday in Waikiki. Pantastico hit .333 and was a Star-Advertiser All-State pick after helping the Sabers capture the Division I state championship last spring. Soma hit .387 while starting in center field in Maryknoll’s run to the D-I semifinals.
The Rainbow Wahine also signed shortstop/catcher Callee Heen out of San Benito High School in Hollister, Calif. Heen, who is part Hawaiian, hit .634 as a junior and was named the Monterey Bay League’s Most Valuable Player.
UH coach Bob Coolen said Heen "satisfies a huge need of ours and that’s a left-handed power bat."
Angelique Ramos, a third baseman from Millikan High School in Long Beach, Calif., hit .402 with 10 home runs last season and was named All-CIF Division I last season. UH also added pitching depth with the signing of Briana Wheeler out of Fontana, Calif. The right-hander went 18-4 with a 1.37 earned-run average and 201 strikeouts in 153 innings at Etiwanda High School.
"I think we’ve hit a lot of different needs with infielders, outfielders, on the mound, behind the plate," Coolen said. "I think that bodes well for us because it turned out to be a bigger class than it started out to be."