Punahou shuts out Kamehameha in ILH

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punahou's Lindsay Fujita slides ahead of the tag of Kamehameha's Kaulana Gould in the sixth. The Warriors were shut out for the first time in 33 games. Gregory Yamamoto • Honolulu Advertiser

The teams finished the regular season tied for first place with 14-2 records and will play for the title at 3:45 p.m. tomorrow at Mid-Pacific Institute.

Both teams have secured state tournament berths, and Punahou's win leaves Iolani (13-3) in third place and out of the state tournament.

The only runs of yesterday's game came in the sixth inning, when Lindsay Fujita scored on an error and Shanna-Lei Dacanay came home on Gail Matsushima's single to left.

Weisskopf pitched a three-hitter but had only one strikeout. Once again, she was helped by a solid defense which made only one error and had three line drive catches in the outfield.

"I tried to keep the ball inside, because almost all of (the Warriors) are pull hitters," said Weisskopf, a right-hander. "I tried to keep them off-balanced, and the change-up was a key today. I tried to mix it up and give them the rise and drop, too."

The last time a Kamehameha team was shut out was in the 2001 state championship game, when current University of Hawai'i pitcher Shannon Tabion, then pitching for Baldwin, blanked the Warriors, 1-0.

That was 33 games ago (regular and postseason).

"Sometimes pitching well doesn't only mean striking out a lot of people," Kamehameha coach Ty Sing Chow said. "Sarah did a good job, and to their credit they made all the plays. We had some nice shots, but they caught them. We didn't execute and we made some boo-boos on the bases, but that's not to take away anything from (the Buffanblu). They're a good team."

For five innings, the game was a duel between Weisskopf and Warriors ace Kate Robinson, who pitched a four-hitter and struck out eight. But with two outs in the sixth, Fujita singled to right.

Dacanay then laid down a sacrifice bunt but the ball was thrown into right field, allowing Fujita to circle the bases and slide just ahead and around the tag of catcher Kaulana Gould.

Dacanay advanced to third base, and with Kamehameha's infield playing in to protect against an insurance run, Matsushima lined a single just over the reach of leaping shortstop Sharee Fonoti.

"Normally that wouldn't have been a hit, but we had to play in because it was late in the game already and we couldn't let that second run score," Sing Chow said. "But we opened the door for them with errors. That gave them the opportunities."

The 2-0 lead was more than enough for Weisskopf, who allowed only one base runner in the next two innings. That runner was thrown out at second trying to advance on an error.

Earlier in the game, the Warriors had a runner thrown out trying to advance to third.

"I'm so proud of our girls, because they really competed," Punahou coach Kristl Chinen said. "They were willing to risk losing and went for the win. There's a difference between just participating and competing, and those were two quality teams competing today."

The showdown actually came six days late. The game originally was scheduled for Jan. 28, but had to be postponed because of a muddy field caused by last-minute afternoon showers. Chinen said the six-day delay "was like waiting for Christmas" for the Buffanblu.

"We were all ready to play, and when they said it was postponed we just sat in the dugout," Weisskopf said. "We didn't want to leave. We really wanted to play."

In the meantime, the teams still had to complete the rest of their schedule with two other games.

"We were really working hard," Weisskopf said. "We couldn't overlook anybody."

Punahou (14-2) 000 002 0—2 4 1
Kamehameha (14-2) 000 000 0—0 3 3

Sarah Weisskopf and Kaha Wier. Kate Robinson and Kaulana Gould. WP—Weisskopf. LP—Robinson.

IOLANI 12, HBA/St. Francis/St. Andrew's 1: Sheryl Fukuda and Monique Obra combined on a five-inning six-hitter and the Raiders managed 12 runs on 10 hits, including six runs in the fourth.

HBA/St.F/St.A (7-9) 100 00— 1 6 2
Iolani (13-3) 222 6x—12 10 1

Anitta Manuma and Jamie Fernandez. Sheryl Fukuda, Monique Obra (5) and Tricia Sakamoto. WP—Fukuda. LP—Manuma.

Leading hitters: HBA/St.F/St.A— Stacie Sueda double. Iolani—Tara Yanagihashi 2-3, 2 RBIs; Blair Agena 2-2, double.