Just because top-ranked Campbell wasn’t panicking doesn’t mean coach Michael Hermosura wasn’t stressed out.

So it was a welcoming feeling of relief for him when the Sabers slowly but surely scratched back from a five-run deficit to beat No. 10 Leilehua 7-6 in an OIA West softball game on a sweltering Saturday morning in Ewa Beach.

Despite being down by so much, the home team didn’t flinch in the matchup of teams that have combined to win the past four Division I state championships. Campbell did it with small ball all the way. Only one of the Sabers’ 10 hits went for extra bases.

“I was that stressed at one point, wondering how I would manage the team to get one hit at a time, one run at a time,” Hermosura said.

Somehow, it all worked out.

In the third, Campbell (5-0) cut the deficit to three, 6-3, on Sanoe Samante’s RBI infield single and Liana Nagamine’s run-scoring double. Dyllan Sanay Shiraishi’s RBI hit in the fourth trimmed it to 6-4.

While riding the smooth relief pitching of left-hander Chloe Sales, the Sabers erupted for three runs in the fifth, thanks in part to two Mules errors. That rally wound up giving the team and Sales the victory. Nagamine squeeze-bunted Jayda Favela home and then Seaerra Fuentes-Arellano’s single drove in a run that tied it at 6-all.

With Jayden Pacheco on third and Fuentes-Arellano on first, Leilehua catcher Gianna Araki sailed a pickoff throw to the outfield allowing Pacheco to cross the plate with what turned out to be the game-winning run. It was bad timing for the Mules because they got the third out on the next pitch.

“We had three errors all together,” Leilehua coach Wendell Au said. “You’ve gotta take the easy outs and that’s what we didn’t do. We’ve also got to learn to keep our foot on the gas pedal.”

With that 6-1 deficit and one out in the third, Sales came in to relieve starter Nadia Delzer and cooled off what had been red-hot Mules bats. Sales faced 17 batters in 42⁄3 scoreless innings, allowing just two of Leilehua’s seven hits and coming through with three 1-2-3 innings.

For the Mules (2-2), Jacelyn Kepaa followed her first-inning, inside-the-park, two-run homer with a third-inning two-run single. Alana Jarra-Parker’s two-run double in the third gave them that five-run lead.

“Every loss is hard,” said Kepaa, who was a freshman a year ago when Leilehua won the state title. “But it’s not about all the losses you have. It’s about the outcome at the end. It’s really anybody’s game. It just comes down to the errors and who performs better.”

Alyssa Abe went the distance in the loss, and five of the seven runs she gave up were earned.

Favela was a small-ball spark for Campbell, which is on a mission to win the states like it did in 2016, ’17 and ’18. She reached base four times, stole three bases, beat out two infield hits and she also used her speed to get home safely on Nagamine’s squeeze.

“Jayda adds a lot to our team,” Hermosura said. “She’s so versatile.”

Sanay Shiraishi provided some punch as well for the Sabers, going 3-for-4 with a stolen base and two RBIs.