Wahine win one, lose one, take tourney title with 5-1 mark

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

On the final day of the Hawai'i Invitational, the Wahine softball team won when it counted, lost when it didn't and emerged as the tournament champion.

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All-Tournament Team Catcher — Melissa Slama, Eastern Illinois. Infield — April Crowell and Stacey Porter, Hawai'i; Summer Ehrsam, San Diego State; and Lora McBay, San Diego. Outfield — Asami Ogiwara, Tokyo; Cristina Byrne, San Diego; and Maria Barhorst, Wright State. Designated Player — Amber Price, Wright State. Pitcher — Felicity Witt, Hawai'i. Outstanding Pitcher — Mariko Masabuchi, Tokyo. Most Valuable Player — Sayaka Igarashi, Tokyo.

With the victory over San Diego, the Wahine (27-10) extend their winning streak to six games. Their game against the Japanese team was considered an exhibition, although it did count toward the tournament results. Hawai'i took first place in the four-day event with a record of 5-1.

In the first game, San Diego (10-23) took a 1-0 lead in the third inning off a single to right field by Stephanie Bisera that scored Jennifer Bridges.

In the fifth inning, Jennifer Tandarich walked and moved to third on a hit by Natalie Gonzales and a fielder's choice. Tandarich tied the score on the next at-bat when Bridges, the catcher, lost control of a pitch.

The score remained 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh when Tandarich doubled to left center and advanced to third. Gonzales then hit a grounder to right and Tandarich beat the throw home to win the game.

"Going into the game, (San Diego's) opponents were 8-for-8 on stolen bases and that stood out to me," said Hawai'i head coach Bob Coolen. "That's why we ran a little bit. Jennifer was very aggressive on the base paths. She was the one who made the difference. It was all her base running."

Hawai'i's Felicity Witt scattered four hits over seven innings for the win.

In the second game, the Wahine were victimized by the all-too-familiar hit-and-run game of Tokyo.

"Every year they come in and play the short game to perfection," Coolen said. "If you don't defend it well, you can't do anything else. That's their strength. They'll send up all the short hitters and pile the hits."

Hawai'i pitcher Janelle Gonzales held Tokyo to just one hit in the first three innings. Freshman Stacey Porter provided the offense, smashing a two-run homer over the center-field fence in the bottom of the third to give the Wahine a brief 2-0 advantage.

And was it ever brief. Tokyo scored all seven of its runs in the top of the next inning, peppering the UH defense with short singles and exploiting every extra-base opportunity.

Gonzales got in trouble early as she walked Rie Sato, gave up a double to Sayaka Igarashi, then walked Tae Kanda to load the bases.

Yuki Takeno hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Sato. After pinch hitter Makiko Ota reached on a bunt to reload the bases, pitcher Mariko Masabuchi singled to center field to score Igarashi.

Tokyo got its second out when Sayaka Fujikawa popped up to center, but Emi Miyashita hit a single to center that drove home Kanda and Ota. Asami Ogiwara then singled to left to score Tomoko Fujiwara, who was pinch running for Masabuchi.

With Tokyo leading 5-2, Sato hit a single to left. Miyashita advanced to third on the play, then scored on an error by April Crowell. Ogiwara then scored on a wild pitch by Gonzales for the winning margin. Igarashi lined out to end the inning.

"If we have the pitching performance that keeps (Tokyo) to one or two runs, we usually win," Coolen said. "But you can't give up seven runs in an inning and think you're going to survive."

Desiree Duran relieved Gonzales in the fifth and allowed just two hits over the final three innings.

Masabuchi, a member of Japan's national team, earned the win for Tokyo. She was also named Most Valuable Pitcher for the tournament.

Despite the loss, Coolen said he was pleased with his team's performance yesterday.

"The first game was the one we were gunning for," he said. "We didn't play (on Saturday), so we were out of sync a little bit, but it was a real nice game for us because in the five games that counted, we went 5-0."