What’s the secret behind Brennalyn and Haley Nakamura’s patented 6-4-3 double play?
Practice, Practice … oh, and 15 years of practicing together.
Siblings competing in the same venue is rare, much less playing on the same team. But for Brennalyn and Haley that’s just the case. Both Maui natives and Lahainaluna graduates, the two have played softball almost their entire lives.
PROFILES
Brennalyn Nakamura
>> Height: 5 feet 2
>> Position: Shortstop
>> Major: Business
>> Class: Senior
>> High School: Lahainaluna (2012)
>> Notes: Had a team-high .398 batting average last season with 41 hits in 103 at-bats. … Amassed 31 runs, 23 RBIs and 11 multi-hit games.
Haley Nakamura
>> Height: 5 feet 5
>> Position: Second base
>> Major: Biology
>> Class: Junior
>> High School: Lahainaluna (2013)
>> Notes: Played in 50 games and started 48 as a freshman. … Ranked fourth on the team with a .358 average. … Racked up 43 hits, 32 runs and nine RBIs in 120 at-bats.
Brennalyn is a college senior, and at 22 years old the elder sister by a year. She played at the College of Southern Nevada her freshman year and began to examine her collegiate future as soon as her sister made an exciting announcement.
“I wanted to play at New Mexico State because they’re a D-I school. And also when I came on my college visit they were very welcoming,” Haley said. “I just think for me, I could see myself playing softball there. I was really excited to see how far I could go competing against a higher level of competition.”
Brennalyn promptly made the decision to become an Aggie as well.
Today, she is the starting shortstop and Haley the starting second baseman for the school’s softball team.
Both have thrived in those roles thus far. This season, Brennalyn is hitting .329, followed by Haley at .321.
The duo have also combined for 33 runs scored, 17 runs batted in, and 13 stolen bases in 39 games this season.
And the Nakamura sisters have been solid on defense as well. Playing as infielders since little league, the two have been perfecting their double play for quite some time.
“We’ve been playing softball together for 15 years, so we’ve been practicing that double play almost our whole lives,” said Brennalyn. “Ever since we came here we’ve just been practicing quicker transitions to match up with the speed of the game.”
Thanks in no small part to the duo’s effort, the Aggies are a top threat in the Western Athletic Conference. Just last season NMSU was crowned as WAC champions with an overall record of 47-16 and 14-1 in conference. The Aggies advanced to the NCAA Tucson Regional before eventually falling to the University of Minnesota 2-0 in an elimination loss.
This season the Aggies are off to a good start once again. They are 23-16, and their 3-0 conference record has them in first place. They’re biggest competition to repeat has been Grand Canyon University. The Antelopes are just 1-2 in conference, but 26-12 overall.
The opportunity to repeat will require the help of three other Hawaii natives currently on the roster — utility players Misty Hoohuli from Kamehameha and Nue Sivia from Waianae High, and right-handed pitcher Fahren Glackin from Kamehameha.
The five girls help to create a winning environment, as well as a unique Hawaii-grown dynamic in the Aggies locker room.
“It’s great to have people that kind of grew up the same way we did.” Brennalyn said. “We talk Pidgin to each other and share all kinds of things about Hawaii. We have our own little potlucks where we make chicken katsu and spam musubis. In those ways it feels like home.”
