Mules Softball Offers New ‘Player Of Game’ Every Week
By Jack Danilewicz
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The prep softball post-season is still more than a week away, but a playoff atmosphere should prevail at 7 p.m. Saturday when Leilehua and Mililani meet at Central Oahu Regional Park in a key OIA Red West showdown.
Heading into last weekend, Mililani held a one-game lead over the Mules in the league, and, lest anyone forget, the Trojans’ only setback was a home loss to Leilehua (8-7) on March 26, adding more intrigue to this weekend’s matchup.
“There’s a little bit of a rivalry between us - a lot of the kids are friends,” Leilehua coach Stacy Araki said. “They pump themselves up to play Mililani. I just hope we can play well and give them a good game.”
Saturday’s game will be televised live by Oceanic-16, marking the second TV appearance for the Mules, who defeated Aiea 11-1 on May 5 before a statewide audience.
While the added exposure is a benefit of having an up-and-coming program, the downside for the Mules was losing two home games after having them selected for television and moved to C.O.R.P.
Viewers who tune into Saturday’s games will see a Leilehua team that has covered a lot of ground in a short period of time, according to Araki. Indeed, by mid-season, the Mules already had been tagged throughout the league as its “surprise team” for 2008.
Count Araki herself among those who weren’t sure what to make of Leilehua in the preseason.
“We didn’t have a full team for much of preseason,” she said. “We had some girls in canoeing and soccer, and we weren’t sure who was coming out. Once we got everyone together, we were thinking we could do something.
“We had set some team goals, and we have our little goals from week to week, and we’ve been achieving most of them,” she added. “I think the girls have done a tremendous job. We might be peaking at the right time.
“This year, we’re really together on and off of the field.”
Balance has carried the Mules to date. Led by Julie Brister, K.K. Ynigues, Alex Smith, Ciara Paracuellas, Brittany Lani and Chasea Crawford, the team has been able to match up with everyone on its schedule.
“Every game, someone else has stepped up. We select a Player of the Game after every game, and through our first seven games K.K. won twice, and we had someone different selected in all the rest.”
Offensively, Brister has been the catalyst for Leilehua of late, according to her coach. “She’s been tremendous. She’s been hitting the ball really hard.”
Ynigues has been the work horse on the mound, meanwhile. Araki had been hoping to work Smith back into the rotation, but she re-injured her throwing arm again recently and is day-to-day this week. She was held out of their game against Waipahu last Thursday.
Following Saturday’s game with Mililani, the Mules close out their regular season against Campbell Tuesday. The Sabers entered the weekend with a half-game lead over Leilehua and had handed the Mules one of their two losses (4-0) on March 29.
Mililani, which is led by pitcher Makani Duhaylonsod, entered last Thursday’s game with Pearl City having given up only two runs in its previous three outings, a span that included back-to-back 10-0 shutouts of both Waipahu and Aiea.
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