It was the game that never appeared to end.

Kamehameha and Punahou played a marathon Interscholastic League of Honolulu softball game at Kamehameha that began at 10 a.m. and ended 5 1/2 hours later on Jan. 17, 2004. Punahou's Sarah Weisskopf pitched the entire game, throwing 225 pitches before Kamehameha homered in the bottom of the 21st inning to win, 2-1.

The game is believed to be the longest softball game in local history.

"I remember Sarah doing an amazing job because she pitched the entire game," said Kaha Weir, who caught the entire game for Weisskopf and now plays for Seattle University.

"I remember her getting stronger as the innings went on. Between the eighth and up until the 21st, it just really felt like we weren't playing because we were taking turns playing defense and offense because nobody was scoring. Looking back, it was like time flew."

The game was tied 1-1 after a regulation seven innings. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, the longest softball games happened twice in California. Huntington Beach schools Ocean View and Marina played 35 innings in 1983. In 2001, the Del Oro-Placer game also lasted 35 innings.

By the time the Kamehameha-Punahou game ended, Punahou pitching coach Kara Nishimura missed a wedding reception. Three pages were used up in each team's scorebook, and the only relief before the game ended was a bathroom break issued by home plate umpire John Park in the 16th inning that quickly cleared both dugouts.

"He (Park) asked if I had to go to the bathroom and I said 'not really'," base umpire Roy Koening said. "We talked about how fantastic of a ball game it was and we could be here all night."

TIED GAME

Kamehameha scored in the bottom of the first when Liane Horiuchi, the leadoff hitter, hit a home run for a 1-0 lead.

Kamehameha pitcher Noe Esperas, now at Eastern Arizona Junior College, gave up just two hits through six innings and only two Buffanblu runners advanced past first base. Punahou finally struck in the top of the seventh. Weisskopf and Kim Nagamine walked to start the inning, and a sacrifice bunt moved up the courtesy runners in for them. Kelli Ishii, now playing for Puget Sound, drove in Adrienne Tanaka on a bloop single to tie the game at 1-1.

Taila Autele was then forced out at home on Jeri Shimazu's suicide squeeze. The call was challenged by Punahou.

"Punahou could've won it instead of making a fancy slide," said Park, who remembers Autele sliding around the plate and then reaching for the plate. "If she came in on a routine slide, she would've been safe.

"The catcher tagged her hand. It was very close and I did call her out."

'IN THE ZONE'

Then came the extra innings, which could've been the equivalent of another two games, and Weisskopf's mentality never wavered. Her coaches kept asking about her condition and Weisskopf said she was OK. Backup pitchers Autele and Lindsay Olmstead were ready to go since the seventh.

"I definitely felt that I was in the zone that day," said Weisskopf, who went 20-4 and was a Pac-West Conference second-team pick at UH-Hilo this past year. "I was totally focused on the moment at the time. I wasn't looking ahead to the next inning or batter. I was focused on that pitch to that batter and my catcher."

Kamehameha's Brandi Peiler, who wasn't going to play because of an illness, replaced Esperas on the mound in the eighth inning. She struck out 10 batters before Kate Robinson took over in the 15th and struck out eight to eventually earn the win. Kaulana Gould caught all 21 innings for the Warriors.

"I didn't want to be the pitcher that gave up the game," said Robinson, an All-American at Hawai'i this year. "It worked out for our team and we had three pitchers and like each of us threw one game. We were waiting for Sarah to run out of gas but she never really did."

STILL GOING

Neither team had much offense going in the extra innings, which kept the game moving along. Nicole Kalakau, now at Hawai'i Pacific, drove a pitch deep into left field in the ninth, but Shimazu made the catch while moving back. Punahou got two runners on in the 14th, but couldn't score. The teams left 27 runners on base.

"(Kamehameha) was the strongest team we played," Nishimura said. "One through nine, they were strong. Trying to call pitches and keep them off the board for 21 innings was an accomplishment. That team was stacked."

With the caliber of players on his team, Kamehameha coach Ty Sing Chow said they didn't need much motivation. Thirteen of them went on to play in college.

"The girls themselves, they picked themselves up," Sing Chow said. "You didn't have to talk too much. They knew what they had to do."

At first, Weisskopf thought her team would score and the game would be over. But as the game wore on, emotions began to build.

"I started getting really emotional," Weisskopf said. "The whole team had invested so much emotionally. I remember crying in the dugout. I could just feel that everybody was trying so hard and nothing was coming of it."

Weir said Weisskopf did most of the talking before the team took the field, reminding everyone "to stay tough."

"I remember one inning, she called me up to the mound because she asked me to kick dirt onto the mound because her leg was sore," Weir said. "I was amazed because she was pitching better as the innings went on. On the side, obviously she was hurting."

Park also noticed Weisskopf getting stronger as the game went on.

"I could see that she was really getting stronger and the ball was breaking a little bit more," Park said. "Throwing underhand, you don't feel it as much as overhand, but she pitched one heck of a game. She pitched three games in those 5 1/2 hours."

'AMAZING'

Peiler connected on Weisskopf's pitch to lead off the 21st. The ball got past a diving Nicky Hamayasu in right field and Peiler raced around the bases to end the game.

"It was a low, outside ball," said Peiler, who went 5 for 9. "I just went with it."

"As soon as I saw her (Hamayasu) dive and the ball go under, I knew that was it," Weisskopf said. "It was over."

Back at school, Punahou players reflected on the loss.

"A bunch of us sat in the locker room and were like 'we just played 21 innings, that was amazing,' " said Weisskopf, who also had three hits, gave up 15 hits, struck out six and walked two. "We were sad about the loss, but we couldn't be knowing we left that field having given everything we had. It was nice not having any regrets, knowing we tried our best."

Kamehameha ended up winning the ILH title that year, and one month later, both teams played to a 1-1 tie in the state tournament's third-place game. If it wasn't for a tournament time limit, who knows how long both teams could've played again.

Last year, Park ran into Weisskopf during a club game. He presented her with the game ball.

"It was nice," Weisskopf said. "Definitely something that I like to have."

The game still comes up when players run into each other. Recently, Weisskopf mentioned reading about a 19-inning baseball game to Weir.

Weir told Weisskopf, "that has nothing on our game."