honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, May 18, 2005

HOMEGROWN REPORT
Friends turn foes for NCAA softball tourney

 •  McGuigan sets saves mark for San Francisco

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

They have been teammates and opponents, but never in a game of this magnitude.

When No. 2 California and Brigham Young take the field tomorrow, it will pit former Hawai'i softball stars against each other in a double-elimination regional of the NCAA Tournament at Fresno State, Calif.

Senior outfielder Kaleo Eldredge plays for Cal, while first baseman Ianeta Le'i and third baseman Ashlyn Russell — both juniors — and freshman outfielder Emi Snow are on the BYU roster.

"It's just going to be a regular game," insisted Eldredge, a 2001 Baldwin graduate. "We're going to beat up on each other and after the game we're going to be friends."

"I just know that I'll be playing back when she's up to bat," Lei (Iolani 2002) said of Eldredge, a former teammate on the Mililani Prep club team. "At least I don't have to pitch against her this time, so that's off my chest."

Eldredge and Russell were teammates at Baldwin, and played against Le'i in successive years in the state high school tournament, with each taking a 1-0 victory.

"Ashlyn and I always bicker about who was better, Baldwin or Iolani," Le'i said. "She always reminds me about how I walked Kaleo."

Tomorrow's game will be the first time since high school that Eldredge and Le'i, both former Advertiser State Players of the Year, will oppose one another, and the first time that Eldredge and Russell will face each other since Russell transferred from Maui High to Baldwin for her junior year.

"We were supposed to play each other during the preseason, but it got canceled," Le'i said. "I think it will be fun to see (Eldredge), because it's kind of a little reunion."

Two other teams in the NCAA Tournament feature players from Hawai'i and will be playing in the regional at UCLA. The players are freshman utility Kahaunani Kahananui (Kealakehe) and freshman first baseman Sandy Nakamura (Mililani) of UNLV, and senior outfielder Lauren Hiramoto (Punahou) of Loyola Marymount.

"They clump all of the Hawaiians together," Eldredge said jokingly.

History favors Cal (46-11), which has advanced to the Women's College World Series in each of Eldredge's three years.

"I expect to keep going on. We've played there the last three years. We have a very old class with eight seniors," Eldredge said. "I don't feel we have pressure. It's just going to be like any other game. I expect our team to play the way we play, and do our best as best we can."

Eldredge is batting .322 with six doubles and six home runs.

Cal and BYU have never played each other in the NCAA Tournament, but the Bears hold a 6-0 all-time series edge.

BYU (44-12) earned an automatic berth into the field by defeating UNLV, 2-0, in the Mountain West Conference tournament championship on May 14.

Le'i is batting .359 with 11 doubles and 10 home runs, and Russell is batting .322 with six doubles and a team-high 17 home runs. Both recently earned all-MWC honors.

Snow is batting .333 in 32 games, including four starts.

The regional winners will advance to super regionals, a best-of-three series May 27 and 28. By that time, at least two teams featuring players from Hawai'i will have been eliminated.

"It's definitely more fun having more players from Hawai'i, knowing that Hawai'i is starting to step up, and people are starting to notice players from Hawai'i." Le'i said.

Notes

Lauren Hiramoto is batting .444 in 39 games, including two starts, for Loyola Marymount (34-18). ... Kahaunani Kahananui has played in 22 games, scoring seven runs, and Sandy Nakamura is batting .300 in nine games, with one start, for UNLV (43-17). ... After the season, Cal's Kaleo Eldredge will play for the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut in the Women's Professional Fastpitch league.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.