Wahine seniors to bid farewell in last softball game

Two ceremonies this weekend will attest to the perseverance of three University of Hawaii softball players.

Rainbow Wahine seniors Kanani Aina Cabrales, Ulu Matagiese and Heather Morales bid their softball farewells in a season-ending Big West series against Long Beach State today and Friday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Following Friday’s senior night festivities, they’ll walk in the Manoa campus’ spring commencement ceremonies to cap a weekend of closure.

“It’s been a crazy ride being a business major and trying to balance it out with softball,” Aina Cabrales said. “But I feel like it’s all worth it right now. It’s a surreal experience.”

The series between UH (28-21, 7-11 Big West) and LBSU (21-26-1, 9-9) was shifted from the usual Friday-Saturday slot due to graduation. The schedule makes for a hectic week of final exams and practices as the seniors approach their final appearances at RWSS.

“It is a class that survived,” UH coach Bob Coolen said.

From a freshman class of nine in the 2013-14 academic year, attrition in various forms whittled the group to two original members in Matagiese and Morales, and Aina Cabrales, who joined the program as a sophomore as a transfer from Georgia Tech. (Pitcher Brittany Hitchcock was part of the 2014 freshman class, but redshirted and is in her junior season.)

“We knew we weren’t leaving so we just grew (closer) to each other and pushed one another,” Morales said.

Morales began her career as a pitcher, settled in at first base the last three seasons and enters her final series hitting .313 and tied for the team lead with 31 runs batted in. Matagiese, part of a Division II state championship team at Waimea, has started in all three outfield spots in her career. She holds the UH hit-by-pitch record with 51, the latest coming last week at Cal Poly, leaving her with a nasty bruise on her thigh.

“It was cold, and I don’t like to admit to pain but that was sore,” she said.

Aina Cabrales enters the week at 2-3 with a 1.92 earned-run average in 40 innings this season and 23-29 with a 2.97 ERA over her career.

Along with their on-field experiences, a range of backgrounds stretching from Kauai to Southern California (Morales) to Lawrenceville, Ga., (Aina Cabrales) provided memories that will endure well beyond Friday’s finale.

“Nani will tell us a lot about Atlanta and how they do things down in the South. Ulu taught me how to husk coconuts,” Morales said. “We’ve learned a lot about each other, one another’s cultures and it’s pretty interesting how they’re so different but so similar.”

For Aina Cabrales, transferring to UH gave her a chance to connect with local culture after growing up in Georgia.

“My mom said ‘you’re going to learn a lot of new things and lot of new customs and you need to respect that,’ ” Aina Cabrales said. “Things like taking off your shoes before you enter a house, kissing people on the cheek to say hi … . It’s little things like that that I’ve come to be a part of and I’ve come to love it.”

Matagiese and Morales will pick up their diplomas signifying completion of their degrees in human development and family studies. Aina Cabrales is closing in on a business degree and all three have plans to give back to their communities after graduation.

Morales hopes to work with youth and has applied for counseling jobs back home in California. Aina Cabrales plans to stay in Hawaii with a vision of opening a softball, baseball and football training facility to prepare student-athletes for the college level.

“I really want to create my own where it’s serious and they feel like part of a family and know that they’re going to go somewhere and that their goals are going to be attained,” Aina Cabrales said.

Matagiese plans to pursue a lifelong dream of serving as a police officer, following the path of her grandfather and uncle, who rose to the top of the ranks on Kauai.

“It’s been in our bloodline and no one in my generation thought about going that way and it’s something I’ve always held close to my heart,” Matagiese said.