Wahine softball team completes fall sweep

The Rainbow Wahine softball team set a foundation for the spring while sweeping through the Kama’aina Tournament to close fall practice.

UH pulled away from UH Hilo in a 9-3 win in Saturday’s first game at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. UH Hilo then held off Chaminade 4-3 in a game delayed twice by rain and a rematch with UH was cancelled to allow the Vulcans to catch their flight. The Wahine then capped the tournament with a 9-0 win over Chaminade.

The Wahine will resume their conditioning program while finishing out the semester and UH coach Bob Coolen will go into the winter with a tentative lineup in mind. With the fall tournament and scrimmages to reflect on, “we can talk about it now as to who proved themselves,” he said.

Senior second baseman Tayana Mata hit a tie-breaking home run in the fourth inning against UH Hilo and freshman Nicole Lopez delivered a two-run homer in the first inning against Chaminade and UH finished a 4-0 run against the local colleges and the alumnae team.

Lopez solidified her hold on third base while hitting .636 (7-for-11) with two homers and driving in a team-high seven runs in the tournament. The Mid-Pacific graduate joined the program with considerable experience playing at RWSS in state tournaments, and took a step in her transition to college ball against Division II competition.

“I’m way more comfortable now,” Lopez said. “I was nervous going into the first game a little bit because it was my first college game. I’m good now. I got all the butterflies out and I’m just playing.”

While UH hit five home runs in the tournament, the offense could have a more diverse look when the spring rolls around.

“We can bunt, slap, steal. We have a lot of speed this year which we didn’t have much of last year, which I feel is going to help us in the long run,” said junior pitcher Kanani Aina Cabrales, who went 5-for-8 and drove in three runs in the tournament. “We’re known for power and not for speed, but now we have power and speed.”

Aina Cabrales had two hits in 14 at-bats last spring while focusing on pitching and is looking to play a more prominent role on offense.

“My first love was hitting, so being able to pitch and hit for myself and in the (designated player) spot … that’s what I love to do,” she said.

Aina Cabrales went five innings in both of her starts this weekend and allowed two hits and two unearned runs with nine strikeouts against four walks. Sophomore Brittany Hitchcock gave up two runs on seven hits in her six-inning appearance against UH Hilo on Saturday and finished the tournament with seven strikeouts and one walk.

The UH pitchers worked primarily with sophomore Rachel Lack behind the plate. Lack made three starts at catcher last season in relief of Kayla Wartner, who completed her career as a four-year starter in the spring.

“Me and Rachel are really close, even outside of softball,” Aina Cabrales said. “We hang out a lot and we both have difficult majors so we both talk about that. We’re really close and it’s been very beneficial so far this fall season.”

Coolen could pencil in two freshmen at the top of the order in the spring. Coolen said Sarah Muzik stepped forward at shortstop and in the leadoff spot with Lopez poised to hit second followed by senior Keiki Carlos and junior Heather Morales.

Jennifer Iseri, another freshman, split time between left field and the pitching circle and didn’t allow a hit in four innings of relief in the tournament. She also drove in five runs while going 5-for-9.

Coolen said Mata, who hit .173 while making 36 starts last season, came out with “a little bit of a chip on her shoulder” in working to establish a hold on second base. “So she came out on fire,” he said.

“We’ll make plays and now we just have to score enough runs for our pitchers,” Coolen said.