Elisa Favela ruined Aubree Kim’s night at the state tournament for the second straight year.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
>> No. 1 Kapolei vs. No. 2 Campbell, 7 p.m.
THIRD-PLACE GAME
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
>> No. 4 Mililani vs. No. 6 Pearl City, 4:30 p.m.
FIFTH-PLACE GAME
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
>> No. 3 Kamehameha vs. Leilehua, 4 p.m.
DIVISION II SEMIFINALS
At Patsy Mink Softball Stadium in Kahului
>> Kamehameha-Hawaii vs. Pac-Five, 4:45 p.m..
>> No. 9 Nanakuli vs. St. Francis, 7 p.m.
FIFTH-PLACE SEMIFINALS
At Patsy Mink Softball Stadium in Kahului
>> Kalani vs. Aiea, 12:30 p.m.
>> Farrington vs. Lanai, 2:30 p.m.
DIVISION II CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
At Patsy Mink Softball Stadium in Kahului
>> Kohala vs. Kauai, 10:30 a.m.
Favela hit a two-run, fifth-inning homer off Kim to wipe out Campbell’s one-run deficit on the way to a 5-2 victory over Mililani on Thursday night in the Division I semifinals of the DataHouse/HHSAA State Softball Championships at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
“I didn’t expect to hit that,” Favela said afterward. “When I saw it, I was speechless.”
Just one year ago, Favela cracked a grand slam off Kim in the first inning of the Sabers’ 16-4 win in the state final.
Now, Campbell (17-1) will try to bring the big trophy back to Ewa Beach against Kapolei in tonight’s championship game.
“I was nervous and worried, but knew my team would come back,” said Sabers pitcher Dani Cervantes, who didn’t walk a batter and struck out nine in the complete-game win. “We just have the heart and the fight. Even though I struggle sometimes, I know they always have my back. We’re ready to go and try to defend it.”
Campbell has climbed as high as No. 13 in one national ranking, but lost some steam in a 5-4 loss to Kapolei in the OIA semifinals. The Sabers want to be back in that Hawaii driver’s seat.
Kim walked seven and struck out seven, but four of those bases-on-balls came in the opening inning, when Campbell went ahead 1-0 on Favela’s RBI groundout.
The Trojans (13-5) didn’t cave in. Kim got out of the bases-loaded jam and then struck out the side in the second before Mililani came back for a 1-all tie on Kristen Ishii’s solo homer to left in the fourth. The good fortune continued in the fifth, when Brooke Yasuda led off with a triple to the corner in right and scored on Keri Togami’s single to center for a 2-1 lead.
“We fought and never gave up,” Trojans coach Rose Antonio said. “That’s the character of this team.We gave them (the Sabers) a good game. They’re the team to beat and they are hard to beat. One through nine, they can all hit it over the fence.”
After Jocelyn Alo’s one-out double in the bottom of the fifth, Favela stepped to the plate with pinch runner Trinity Favela, her sister, on second. She tagged a Kim offering, sending it deep over the fence in the left-center alley. The ball was about 50 feet in the air and 200 feet from the plate when it bounced off the top of a pole holding up the outfield protective netting.
“Elisa, she’s something else,” Cervantes said. “She can bomb balls out of this park any time.”
Favela said Cervantes pitched “a helluva game.” A year ago, Favela was in the pitcher’s circle, leading the Sabers to the state crown. Now, with Cervantes in that role, Favela can put her full concentration into hitting as the Sabers’ designated player.
Cydney Curran’s two-run homer to right in the sixth finished the scoring. Cienna Curran, Cydney’s sister, was aboard after reaching on the only error of the game and stealing second.
“My teammates did their jobs, but it was on my couple of mistakes, those two home-run pitches,” said Kim, a four-year starter for the Trojans who will play for Santa Clara next season.
