Senior ace Melody Makaneole-Baligad went the distance as Nanakuli rallied from a five-run deficit for a 9-5 victory over Aiea for the OIA Division II championship on Saturday at Tiger Softball Stadium.
“I feel amazing, especially being my last year playing, and for having to come back from last year, as well,” Makaneole-Baligad said.
Nanakuli and Aiea reached the state tournament last year when Waipahu won the OIA title. Nanakuli lost to Waimea in the opening round.
“I believed in all of my girls. We just kept pushing throughout the game, and without their faith, and the man above, we wouldn’t have made it through the day,” Makaneole-Baligad said.
Aiea (14-3 overall) and Nanakuli will play in the DataHouse/HHSAA Division II Softball State Championships, which begin on May 2.
Nanakuli (15-4 overall) went 14-0 in OIA D-II play, capturing its first OIA softball crown since 2016.
When the Golden Hawks met Aiea on March 23, they prevailed 7-6.
Aiea had clear intentions on Saturday, jumping to a 5-0 lead in the top of the third inning against the southpaw, Makaneole-Baligad. Alina Faufata led off with a walk, Sophia Kaneshiro singled and Kiersten Chong moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. After Taja Souza walked to load the bases, Cayleigh Naito walked on five pitches to force in Aiea’s first run.
The next batter, Trinity Caporus-Santos, launched a towering blast over the center-field fence. Her grand slam opened Aiea’s lead to 5-0. Aiea had two more runners on base with two outs, but Makaneole-Baligad struck out Faufata to end the inning. Aiea sent 10 batters to the plate in the third frame.
Nanakuli was undisturbed, responding with four runs in the bottom of the third against Souza. Daniella Samson-Wright socked a one-out triple and scored on an infield error. With Haley Flint and Jhan’z Kaawa-Kawai on base, Makaneole-Baligad doubled to left, bringing both teammates home. Kali‘a Cordero followed with a double to center, plating Makaneole-Baligad to bring Nanakuli within 5-4.
The Golden Hawks tied the game in the fourth. Nadine Schmidt-Sakaba hit a two-out ground-rule double to center and scored on Samson-Wright’s double to right.
In the fifth, Kaawa-Kawai led off with a single, and with two outs, Jenna Ku’s grounder to short was muffed by Naito, whose throw to first was late. Kaawa-Kawai raced to third base and the throw from first baseman Chrijon Peneueta was dropped by Kiersten Chong.
Nanakuli made Na Alii pay the price a moment later when Ariel Barrozo-Carrillo doubled to center, scoring Kaawa-Kawai and Ku for a 7-5 lead.
By then, Makaneole-Baligad was in a groove. In the final four innings, she faced the minimum 12 batters.
“I started hitting my outside pitches, my spots,’ Makaneole-Baligad said.
In the bottom of the sixth, Samson-Wright singled with one out and scored on a triple to right by Flint. Kaawa-Kawai followed with a single to left, scoring Flint to give Nanakuli a 9-5 lead.
“We start practicing for states Monday. We’re going to push through,” Makaneole-Baligad said. “Make our name up there and bring a banner to our gym for states, as well. We just have to work together to the end.”
Aiea won its opening-round game at states last year before losing to Kapaa in the quarterfinals.
“We’re going to work harder, focus more on fundamentals and fix the errors,” Naito said. “We can’t dwell on this. We did good. We’ll pick ourselves up and keep working.”
At McKinley
Aiea (14-3) 005 000 0 — 5 5 3
Nanakuli (15-4) 004 122 x — 9 12 0
Taja Souza, Chrijon Peneueta and Montana Cababag. Melody Makaneole-Baligad and Haley Flint. W—Makaneole-Baligad. L—Souza.
Leading hitters—Aiea: Trinity Caporus-Santos 1-2, 4 RBI, run, HR; Cababag 2-3; Sophia Kaneshiro 1-3, run. Nanakuli: Daniella Samson-Wright 3-4, 2 runs, RBI, triple, double; Flint 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs, triple; Jhan’z Kaawa-Kawai 2-3, RBI, run; Makaneole-Baligad 2-4, RBI, run, double; Ariel Barrozo-Carrillo 2-4, 2 RBI.
