Maryknoll repeats as ILH softball champ

Countless rounds of visualization in the batting cage prepared Nohea Hee for her shot at delivering a decisive swing for Maryknoll.

“I feel like during practice if you just put yourself in situations like it’s a game, it really helps you be in the moment during the game,” said Hee, the Spartans’ senior center fielder.

Punahou had seized momentum by erasing a five-run deficit with two swings in the bottom of the sixth inning of Thursday’s ILH Division I softball championship game on the Buffanblu’s home field.

But Hee gave Maryknoll the lead back in the top of the seventh with an RBI ground-rule double and the Spartans held on for an 8-7 victory to capture their second straight ILH championship.

“The girls were resilient, they were confident and they’re playing their best ball right now,” Maryknoll coach John Uekawa said.

After the game, seventh-ranked Maryknoll was awarded the second seed in the Division I bracket of next week’s DataHouse/HHSAA Softball State Championships. No. 4 Punahou had earned a state berth by winning the ILH’s first-round title and is scheduled to face Kapolei in the first round on Tuesday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Maryknoll needed a comeback win over Kamehameha last week and a victory over ‘Iolani on Tuesday to win the ILH tournament and force Thursday’s matchup with Punahou for the league’s overall title.

Hee gave Maryknoll a 3-2 lead with a two-run single in the second inning and forced in another run with a bases-loaded walk in Maryknoll’s four-run sixth. But Punahou erased the deficit in the bottom of the sixth on Kawai Mielke’s two-run double and Ashanti Martinez’s three-run homer to left field.

Maryknoll freshman Aloha Akaka relieved senior Kahilu McNicoll, who had held Punahou to one hit through 51⁄3 innings, and kept the tie in place going into the seventh.

Mahalo Akaka drew a walk to lead off the seventh, stayed put on a fly out, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, bringing Hee to the plate with two out.

Swinging from the left side, Hee sent the next pitch sailing to left field for a ground-rule double to score Akaka with the go-ahead run.

“I was looking for an outside pitch and it had really good height, so I just went with it,” Hee said after her four-RBI performance.

Aloha Akaka got the first two outs of the bottom of the seventh before D’Asha Saiki reached first on a wild pitch on a swinging third strike. But Akaka got Bailey Akimseu to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

“I can depend on Aloha to come in and throw strikes,” Uekawa said. “To face D’Asha and then face Akimseu, it’s a testament to her. They’re probably two of the most-feared players in the ILH.”

As the Spartans celebrated, the outcome still officially hinged on a protest filed by Punahou regarding a controversial call in the bottom of the sixth.

After Punahou tied the game, Bri Alejo hit a grounder that Maryknoll first baseman Liliana Thomas bobbled.

She scrambled to recover the ball and touch the bag and Alejo was ruled out on the play, drawing an argument from Punahou coach David “Boy” Eldredge.

Eldredge said he filed the protest when he was told by the umpire that Thomas had her hand on top of the ball while the ball was on the ground.

“My understanding is the ground cannot create possession,” Eldredge said.

If the protest is upheld the game would resume in the sixth with Alejo on first. But Uekawa left the field confident the result would stand.

“She had control of the ball, that’s the most important thing,” Uekawa said.