There are never too many Chloes for the Campbell Sabers.
Chloe Domingo poked an opposite-field single to bring in Alesia Ranches with the winning run as No. 3 Campbell rallied past No. 2 Leilehua 6-5 on Tuesday afternoon at the Sabers’ field.
Domingo’s base hit came against relief pitcher Alyssa Abe. Leilehua gifted the home team by committing two errors to start the bottom of the seventh. Trinity Favela was the baserunner at third base when Abe committed an illegal-pitch infraction, and Favela advanced one base to score, tying the game at 5.
The rule requires a pitcher to have only one hand holding the ball when stepping on the rubber. Abe had both hands on the ball.
The next batter, Anastasia Iosia, struck out. Then came Domingo. The count was 0-1 when she delivered.
“I was just thinking, drive the ball to the outfield. I recognized it was an outside pitch and I went with it,” Domingo said.
She and her fellow seniors were caked in mud after their round-the-bases senior celebration. Each senior’s lap concludes with a headfirst slide into home plate, which is when teammates plaster each senior with water balloons.
Chloe Sales went the distance on the mound to earn a hard-earned win. The southpaw struggled early, but settled down and retired nine of 10 batters in innings four through six.
“My inside fastball, I couldn’t hit it, but my curveball was working,” the sophomore said. “It means a lot, winning this game. We lost a couple of games (last week).”
The Sabers are now 7-3 in the wild OIA West. The visiting Mules dropped to 6-3 as the pattern of musical chairs continues in what might be the toughest division in any league statewide.
Leilehua was coming off a win over No. 1 Kapolei (8-4) on Monday. Campbell was less hospitable 24 hours later.
“I feel happy for the girls. If you’re on top of the standings, it’s still a battle every game,” longtime Sabers coach Michael Hermosura said. “Our seniors clutched up. We turned three double plays, all by seniors. Chloe (Domingo) with the winning hit. We’re not blowing by teams like before, but they fight, even with the lead.”
The Mules scored twice in the opening frame. Brandi Leong walked, Mikayla Pinera dropped a bunt single and Kamryn Kamakaiwi brought Leong home with a single. Gianna Araki singled to center, plating Pinera.
The Sabers scored in the bottom of the first when they loaded the bases with two walks and a single, and Domingo’s forceout at second allowed Favela to score from third base.
Campbell took a 3-2 lead in the second. Tommi Angelo-Kukar singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Caisha Nunes, who kept going all the way to third base when the ball eluded right fielder Alohilani Kauhane. Nunes then scored on a wild pitch.
The visitors scored three times in the top of the third to regain the lead. Kamakaiwi’s single scored Leong (single) from third base. Moments later, Alyssa Ascension’s single to left plated Kamakaiwi and Araki (single) for a 5-3 edge.
Campbell scored a single run in the bottom of the third when Zoie Recolan singled with two outs and scored on Angelo-Kukar’s infield single.
Then Kamakaiwi was lustrous, retiring nine batters in a row. However, the two errors in the seventh by the Mules set the stage for Campbell’s clutch hits.
