"Anybody gets nine hits, (usually) not going lose," Mililani coach Mike Okimoto said. "(Kailua) got their hits, but they weren't timely hits, and sometimes that's how it goes in softball and baseball."

The Surfriders (16-2) left 13 runners on base, including eight in the first four innings. Kailua also left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning with the tying run on third.

On the game's final play, Natasha Fabinal hit a sharp ground ball to shortstop, but Kimberly Goo gathered it quickly after a quick bobble and made a strong throw to first for the out.

"We hit the ball hard, but we hit it right at them (fielders)," Kailua coach Bernard Victor said. "Even that last play, if it was one foot or two on either side, it's a hit ..."

The Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the first after an error and Dana Lee's sacrifice fly. That lead stood until the sixth, when Erin Guerrero's single brought home Kalina Kama from third to tie the score.

Mililani got the run back in the bottom half when Ciera Senas led off with a single, stole second and came home on Lee's double to left field.

Before the next pitch, Surfriders ace Courtney Kessell was removed from the game because of a pulled quadriceps muscle in her right leg. She had approached Victor earlier in the game saying the leg was bothering her.

"She asked me to warm somebody up," Victor said. "I didn't want to push her, so I said if she cannot go anymore, just tell me. We'd like to win, but the game doesn't mean everything."

Okimoto said he noticed Kessell limping earlier in the game, but did not notice any effect on her pitching.

"She never changed," Okimoto said.

In the meantime, Trojans freshman Makani Duhaylonsod withstood the nine-hit attack and finished her third straight complete game despite only one strikeout.

"She just threw the pitches and got the ground ball outs, Okimoto said.

• KAILUA (16-2) 000 001 0 — 1 9 1
• MILILANI (15-3) 100 001 X — 2 3 1

Courtney Kessell, Krista Dumandan (6) and Erin Guerrero. Makani Duhaylonsod and Skye Virtudes. W — Duhaylonsod. L — Kessell.

Leading hitters — Kai: Guerrero 3-4, RBI; Shyenne Hussey 2-4. Mili: Dana Lee double, 2 RBIs.

KAPOLEI 8, PEARL CITY 3

One year after losing six starters — five to graduation and one to transfer — the Hurricanes (14-4) are back in the championship game.

"The beginning (of the season) was a little shaky, but we knew we could make it back," said Kapolei second baseman Jasmin Yoro, who went 2 for 4 with four RBIs. "We've been growing more and more as a team and we want to defend the title so bad."

Yoro's two-run double in the first inning gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead and they made it 3-0 in the second on Austi Paris' bases-loaded walk.

It was one of nine walks issued by the Chargers, something Pearl City coach Keoke Behic said was not all his pitchers' fault.

"I thought 'Rina threw a lot of strikes that were not called," Behic said of starter Marina Gusman-Brown. "It changed our whole game plan, because we couldn't work the inside-outside (corners). We had to throw it right down the middle, and if you throw it down the middle against Kapolei, they're going to hit it."

The Hurricanes blew it open with a five-run fourth, highlighted by Yoro's two-run single, Paris' RBI groundout and Ka'ili Smith's sacrifice fly to take an 8-0 lead.

Krystal Plunkett slammed a solo home run in the fifth inning to make it 8-1, and the Chargers closed to 8-3 in the sixth on RBI singles by Plunkett and Shanna Vierra.

Pearl City got two runners aboard in the seventh, but Tajia Acierto finished her second complete game of the tournament.

• 
  
  PEARL CITY (14-4) 000 012 0 — 3 10 2
• KAPOLEI (14-4) 210 500 X — 8 8 2

Marina Gusman-Brown, Corrie Nishikida (5) and Noelle Hirahara; Tajia Acierto and Ashllyn Ashby. W — Acierto. L — Gusman-Brown.

Leading hitters — PC: Krystal Plunkett 3-4, home run, 2 RBIs; Shanna Vierra 2-4, RBI; Gusman-Brown 2-5. Kap: Jasmin Yoro 2-4, double, 4 RBIs; Acierto 2-4, RBI; Austi Paris 2 RBIs; Ka'ili Smith RBI.

ST. FRANCIS 7, KONAWAENA 2

Anita Manuma went 4 for 4 with two runs batted in and the Troubadours (9-6) took advantage of four Konawaena errors to advance to tomorrow's Division II championship game against Waipahu (14-3).

The title game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Rainbow Wahine Stadium.

Yesterday's game actually began Friday afternoon before being suspended by rain in the top of the fifth inning.

St. Francis took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after two errors, then added three runs in the third helped by Manuma's run-scoring single and Sasha Koki's RBI groundout.

Manuma had an RBI groundout in the fifth to make it 5-0 in the fifth.

The Troubadours added single runs in the next two innings, on an error and Jandee Taira's single, before the Wildcats scored twice in the bottom half on RBI singles from Summer Tabieros and Hina Kimitete.

• ST. FRANCIS (9-6) 103 011 1 — 7 9 2
• KONAWAENA (8-3) 000 000 0 — 2 6 4

Brittany Akana, Alisha Sakamoto and Ashley Smith; Hina Kimitete and Candice Fujino. W — Akana. L i Kimitete.

Leading hitters — SF: Anita Manuma 4-4, 2 RBIs; Jandee Taira 2-4, RBI. Kona: Kimitete 2-4, RBI; Fujino 2-3.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.

BASKETBALL CORRECTION