The Kapaa softball team picked up a grind-it-out victory over Pearl City on Friday after pounding its previous tournament opponents.
The change of pace allowed the Warriors to repeat as state champions.
Jaicie Martinez homered and drove in four runs and Welina Carvalho-Bride hit the go-ahead run-scoring triple in the fifth as No. 1 seed Kapaa beat No. 2 seed Pearl City 7-5 in the final of the Datahouse/HHSAA Division II State Championships at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
“Our community loves us. It all starts from there,” Carvalho-Bride said. “They’re pretty proud of us and they actually came. Our whole bleachers were filled. Got my friends texting me and saying, ‘Good luck, good luck, I hope you win it,’ and we did our job.”
The Warriors (15-0) have claimed three of the past four crowns.
Earlier in the tournament, Kapaa routed Kailua 15-1 and Pac-Five 17-0. In all, the Warriors mercy-ruled eight opponents this season.
Kapaa got off to a rough start against the Chargers, falling behind 3-0 in the second.
“This is the second time (we trailed),” Kapaa coach Blair Yamashita said. “We were down 5-0 in league play to Kauai High School. Games like that set your mettle and it lets you know what you’ve got. Being able to fight and scrap through things only makes your team better. If you play from ahead, it’s hard to know what you’re made out of.”
Pearl City’s Phoenix Sky Lumabao led off the game with a towering homer to left.
The Chargers (13-1) went up 3-0 in the second on Haley Shinjo’s two-out, two-run homer to left with Aleia Lyn Tonaki-Sagucio aboard.
Both homers were aided by a strong wind that blew toward left.
“We were up for a while. We knew it would be tough competition,” Pearl City coach Erin Barros said. “Like us, they have hitting, pitching, good defense. One thing they have over us is speed. They’re really fast.”
The Warriors, who had been 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position over the first two innings, broke through in the third.
Martinez tied it with a three-run triple off the right fielder’s glove and Andie Iglesia put Kapaa ahead 4-3 with a run-scoring single.
“During the play, I’m just thinking, clear my mind, see ball, hit ball and I kind of calmed down and just made contact,” Martinez said.
The Chargers tied it at 4-4 in the fourth on Lilyanni Mata’s single.
Kapaa went up 5-4 in the fifth on Carvalho-Bride’s run-scoring triple off the glove of the shortstop and to the left-field wall.
“I went 0-for-2 and that was my third at-bat,” Carvalho-Bride said. “I went up to the plate and I was like, ‘Get it out of your head. Let’s go.’ I swung at the second or first pitch and it went past.”
The Warriors extended the lead to 7-4 in the sixth on run-scoring singles by Martinez and pinch hitter Nylea Machado.
“I just tried to do my job and get the runner in. We just do whatever we can,” Martinez said.
Maile Oda got Pearl City within 7-5 with a run-scoring double to left in the seventh, but she was thrown out after making a big turn past second base.
“That’s through repetition. It’s easy to do well when things are going your way and balls are bouncing nicely, but you have to be thinking about the next play,” Yamashita said.
Kapaa’s Karlee-Rose Keale and Pearl City’s Shinjo both went the distance.
The future looks bright for the Warriors and Chargers, both of whom found success with young rosters.
Kapaa had nine freshmen and five sophomores on its 20-player roster, while Pearl City had 11 freshmen and two sophomores on its 15-player roster.
“We tried to preach from the beginning that it’s a totally different team from last year,” Yamashita said. “We’re here to make our own identity, make our own mark, kind of set who we are as the 2025 team.”
The Chargers started seven freshmen.
“I can only see us growing and getting better from here,” Barros said. “We need to work on velo(city) for the pitchers and I think we’ll be even better next year.”
