It was their first Western Athletic Conference championship in four years, aided by five home runs and punctuated by a textbook double play.

An occasion to celebrate long into the Utah night. A milestone around which to shout and raise a din and some dust.

Yet, to hear witnesses tell it, the University of Hawai'i softball team did none of those things Saturday after a 14-2 victory at Utah State.

It was, as WAC Championship clinchings go, rather tame, sedate stuff.

"It was like, 'OK, we've done what we've come to do,' " coach Bob Coolen recounted. "It was short, brief and, bingo, it was over."

All of which might tell you more about the 45-9 Rainbow Wahine than the title itself.

Keep in mind that this is a program that hasn't exactly stuffed its trophy case to bulging with conference titles in a league long dominated by national power Fresno State. This was the second in 11 years of WAC membership and the third in 23 years of all conference (PCAA, Big West and WAC) affiliation for the Rainbow Wahine.

What their in-perspective celebration says is that the Rainbow Wahine are looking at the big picture this season with remarkable maturity and patience. It suggests that the WAC regular-season championship is viewed as but a pit stop on the path to bigger and better things: A WAC tournament title and automatic NCAA bid. A strong NCAA seeding. Perhaps a shot at what has been never-never land for UH, the NCAA World Series.

And, importantly, it is a team that has apparently learned from one of its biggest mistakes and vowed not to repeat it.

For it was just a year ago that the Rainbow Wahine celebrated wildly their biggest achievement of the 2006 season and, then, in a matter of hours closely followed it with a huge disappointment. After knocking host and nationally ranked Fresno State out of the WAC tournament and staring at a clear path to the NCAA tournament, the Rainbow Wahine succumbed twice to Nevada and went nowhere.

A turn of events they had a long offseason to reflect upon.

"We got too high too soon (at Fresno last year) and it cost us the next day (for the championship)," Coolen said. "I think we learned a valuable lesson from that. At this point, they are keeping the emotions in check. I think they are very focused, a very inwardly-confident team."

A good thing, too, because the Rainbow Wahine are headed back to Fresno next week for the WAC tournament (May 10 to 12). Back to where the rest of the conference gets one final shot at them with the automatic NCAA tournament berth on the line. And, be assured, the Bulldogs will be waiting with a score to settle, too.

Which is why, in a season where the payoff is building like a poker game pot, you have to like the well-grounded approach the Rainbow Wahine are taking.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.