Kamaka's 2-hitter lifts Trojans past top seed 'Iolani
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
Her high school career coming full circle, Kishti Kamaka pitched a two-hitter with six strikeouts last night to help Mililani blank top-seeded 'Iolani, 10-0, and advance to its fifth straight DataHouse Softball State Championship game.
A Rainbow Wahine Stadium crowd of about 1,000 watched the O'ahu Interscholastic Association runner-up Trojans improve to 15-3 in the regular and postseason. They will face OIA champ Roosevelt (16-1) at 7 tonight in a rematch of their league title game two weeks ago, won by the Rough Riders, 3-1.
The game will be televised live statewide on OC16 from Rainbow Wahine Stadium.
Kamaka, a senior left-hander who started her career as a freshman at Mililani before transferring to Kapolei as a sophomore and St. Francis as a junior, pitched five no-hit innings before Jana Tokuhama led off the bottom of the sixth with a bloop single to left. By that time, the Trojans led, 8-0, and the only other hit Kamaka allowed was pinch-hitter Kaitlyn Shikada's bloop single to right.
Both hits landed just inside the foul line.
"It feels good, especially since I didn't play last year," said Kamaka, who sat out the season at St. Francis due to private school transfer rules. "I have more drive."
So did the Trojans offense, which scored more runs last night than in their first two tournament wins combined.
Mililani took a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning after five hits aided by two Raiders errors and another mental mistake.
With runners at first and second with one out, Glenelle Nitta dropped a bunt to the third-base side, but nobody covered first. The fielder then turned and tried to get an out at third, but the ball sailed wide and rolled along the fence all the way to near the left-field wall, allowing two runs to score.
Celina Garces then made it 3-0 with a two-out RBI infield single to score Nitta from third, and she eventually scored when Kristi Oshiro's deep fly ball was dropped in center field.
All of the hits came off 'Iolani starter Brittney Guro, who allowed only one earned run throughout the Raiders' entire 13-1 Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship season.
"We didn't look like ourselves tonight," 'Iolani coach Lance Watanabe said. "Brittney really wasn't at her best, and all of the girls looked really tight, they were nervous. This was our first time in front of the (OC16) cameras, and I think we weren't ready for this.
"But give (the Trojans) credit — they were hitting the ball and (Kamaka) pitched a really good game."
Mililani added four more runs in the fifth on three more hits, highlighted by Garces' two-run triple to left and Nitta's RBI single to right.
MILILANI (15-3) 000 440 2 — 10 13 0
'IOLANI (14-2) 000 000 0— 0 2 2
Kishti Kamaka and Rebecca Lee. Brittney Guro and Kelli Ann Lum. W — Kamaka. L — Guro.
Leading hitters — Mililani: Kristi Oshiro 2-4, 2 RBIs; Courtney Senas 2-2; Jaimee Aiwohi 2 runs; Glenelle Nitta 2-3, 2 runs; Celina Garces 3-4, double, 3 RBIs.
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