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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 11:32 p.m., Friday, February 2, 2007

Mililani to play Baldwin for state D-I softball title

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Baldwin will be playing for its first Data House/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association softball championship since 2001 after shutting out No. 2 seed St. Francis, 2-0, Friday night.

The Maui Interscholastic League champion and No. 3 seeded Bears (16-0) will face top-seeded Mililani (15-2) at 8 Saturday night at the University of Hawai'i's Rainbow Wahine Stadium.

Mililani defeated 'Iolani, 5-0, in last night's second semifinal.

Baldwin had been eliminated by one run in each of the previous three state quarterfinals, including one 12-inning game and another that went 11 innings.

Bears senior Nicole Alconcel pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts and hit a two-run homer in the first inning against Saint Francis.

Alconcel, a right-hander who took the loss in each of Baldwin's quarterfinal heartbreakers in 2004, 2005 and 2006, has established herself as the dominant player of 2007. On Thursday, she tossed a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts against a normally hard-hitting Campbell team.

Friday night, she allowed only a ground single to left field by Shannon Lum and walked three, with only one runner advancing past third base. That was in the sixth, when Sasha Koki led off with a walk and advanced to third on Jovan Hire's sacrifice bunt.

But Alconcel responded by striking out the next two batters, then got two more strikeouts in the seventh before ending the game with a pop-up to catcher Sanoe Kekahuna.

Alconcel gave herself the only runs she needed with one out in the top of the first inning, when she launched her home run over the right-center field fence after June Ann Lusk had reached on a single two batters before.

MILILANI 5, 'IOLANI 0

The Oahu Interscholastic Association champion and No. 1 seeded Trojans (15-2) scored four runs on five hits in the top of the first inning and Makani Duhaylonsod scattered six hits in a complete-game effort as Mililani advanced to its third straight state championship game.

Skye Virtudes, Tierra Cuba, Glenelle Nitta and Jaimee Aiwohi had consecutive run-scoring singles in the first inning, and Courtney Senas added an RBI double in the second inning to give Duhaylonsod a big cushion to work with.

She struck out only two, but was supported by an error-free defense and contributed to her own cause with four assists on come-backers to the mound.

Trojans second baseman Kristi Oshiro, a freshman, finished with eight assists and first baseman Cuba had 15 putouts against the Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Raiders (13-5).

Consolation

KAPOLEI 7, WAIAKEA 3: Ashlyn Ashby had three hits and two RBIs, and Kaili Smith added two hits and three RBIs to lift the Hurricanes (13-6) over the Wildcats (11-3).

CAMPBELL 4, KAILUA 2: Breanne Patton pitched a five-hitter and Chanel Bali-Gaui hit a solo homer to propel the Sabers (15-3) past the Surfriders (12-6).