Bob Coolen’s sunglasses did little to hide the emotion brimming behind the mirrored Oakley lenses.
Outside the Hawaii dugout, the Rainbow Wahine softball coach struggled a bit to get the words out following Saturday’s 7-0 win over Charleston Southern, the 1,000th victory of a career now in its 31st year.
He accepted lei, greeted former players who stopped by, indulged a couple of interviews and had a quick Facetime chat with his daughter. But with another game about 20 minutes away, Coolen absorbed the moment for just that — a moment — before resetting his focus.
“I’ll leave (the sunglasses) on for right now and five seconds from now I’ll take them off,” Coolen said, holding a partially filled lineup card for the second game of UH’s doubleheader at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
After falling short in their first attempt at giving Coolen the milestone in a 4-3 loss to Seattle on Friday, the Wahine scored in each inning against Charleston Southern in support of junior right-hander Dana Thomsen’s two-hit shutout in the Coca-Cola Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament.
“They responded from last night,” Coolen said. “I was hoping we could rebound and get through the moment with this overshadowing everything.
“I’m glad we got through it and now we can just move on and wait 72 more and do it all over again,” a reference to his next target — 1,000 wins as UH head coach.
Thomsen tied her season high with nine strikeouts and walked none and third baseman Nicole Lopez headlined the UH offense, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning.
Lopez punctuated the victory by securing a foul pop-up for the final out.
“I think Nicole wanted it last night,” Coolen said, pausing to regain his composure “Today was her day.”
Coolen picked up his first 72 wins at Bentley College from 1985 to ’89 and moved to Hawaii as an assistant coach in 1990. He was promoted to head coach in 1992 and has led the Wahine program to 928 wins, six conference titles and 11 NCAA tournament appearances, including a Women’s College World Series berth in 2010.
Coolen’s wife, Nanci, was a graduate assistant when he moved to Hawaii and witnessed the growth of the program by his side.
Nanci kept their daughter, Demi, and son, Bo, a member of the Ohio State baseball team, updated on the game’s progress and Coolen had a chance to chat with Demi between games.
“These moments make everything worthwhile,” Nanci Coolen said. “To see the difference he’s made in some young women’s lives is super exciting.
“He doesn’t always get the recognition and he works so hard and so many hours and I’m glad for him today.”
The work continued moments later and the Wahine pushed Coolen’s total to 1,001 with a 4-1 win over Toledo to complete the doubleheader sweep.
After Brittany Hitchcock thwarted a bases-loaded threat in the top of the fifth, Lopez broke a 1-1 tie with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning. Heather Morales followed with a two-run double and Hitchcock earned the win with 2 2⁄3 innings of scoreless relief.
With the win, UH secured the top seed in today’s bracket and will face Seattle at noon. The third-place game is scheduled for 2 p.m., with the tournament final to follow.
After the game the celebration started in earnest, with Coolen covered in Gatorade and silly string. Then followed a video tribute produced by Demi Coolen that included messages from Rayla Allison, the coach who first hired him at UH; colleagues from across the country; his father; his children; former players and the current team.
There would be no hiding the tears this time.
At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
>> CSU (10-10) 000 000 0 — 0 2 0
>> Hawaii (7-7) 111 211 x — 7 9 0
Cheyenne Gandara, Holly Clark (4), Nicole Ayala (6) and Georgi Delio. Dana Thomsen and Heather Cameron. W—Thomsen. L—Gandara.
Leading hitters—Charleston Southern: Caitlyn Emberson, 2B; Stephanie Bergmann, 2B. Hawaii: Danielle Garcielita, 2B, 2 RBIs; Sarah Muzik, 2-4; Nicole Lopez, 3-3, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBIs; Callee Heen, RBI; Angelique Ramos, 2B; Cameron, 2B; Bree Soma, RBI.
>> Toledo (5-12) 010 000 0 — 1 2 1
>> Hawaii (8-7) 100 030 x — 4 1 2
Kailey Minarchick, Leah Allison (6) and Kylie Gross. Kanani Aina Cabrales, Brittany Hitchcock (5) and Heather Cameron. W—Hitchcock. L—Minarchick.
Leading hitters—Toledo: Megan Choate, RBI. Hawaii: Nicole Lopez, 2-2, 2B, RBI; Heather Morales, 2-3, 2B, 3 RBIs.
Saturday’s early games
>> Charleston Southern 4, Seattle 3
>> Toledo 2, Seattle 1
Today’s games
>> Toledo vs. Charleston Southern, 10 a.m.
>> Hawaii vs. Seattle, noon
>> Third place, 2 p.m.
>> Championship, 4 p.m.
