Waialua Swinging For States
By Jack Danilewicz
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Waialua’s softball team may be entering its biggest games of the year, but a relaxed air prevails at practices, which is entirely by design, said head coach Jay Keao.
“If the girls aren’t happy, they’re probably not going to play with their hearts,” said Keao, whose team is preparing for this week’s OIA Division II Tournament. “We’ve been mixing it up in practice to keep it fun for them. At the same time, they’ve been working hard every week, and we want to keep up our intensity.”
Hopes are understandably high for the team, which entered last weekend’s season-ending doubleheader with Waianae still unbeaten at 8-0-1. A tie with Kaiser is the only blemish on an otherwise perfect mark. With a three-game lead over Aiea in the West, the Bulldogs already had secured the Division’s top seed by the weekend and will host an OIA semifinal at 3:30 p.m. Friday against either the West’s No. 3 seed or the East’s No. 2-seeded team.
The top five OIA finishers earn berths in the state tournament. For Waialua, advancing to the state tournament for a second straight year would be a real boost. Three years ago they didn’t have enough players for a team.
“This is big-time for us,” said Keao, who led Waialua to a 13-5 record and a second-place finish in the OIA last season. “We keep emphasizing the things that are going to get us to where we want to be.”
In this case, “pitching and hitting.“Waialua will have one of the top pitchers in the state going for it this week in junior Marissa Keao, the coach’s daughter. The OIA 2008 DII Player of the Year , Marissa has maintained her pace with another stellar campaign and is the scheduled starter for Friday as well as Saturday’s OIA title game, should they advance.
“She’s hitting her spots right now and keeping the batters off balance,” Keao said of Marissa, who threw two no-hitters, two one-hitters, a two-hitter and a three-hitter as a junior. “And our outfield has done a great job of limiting a lot of hits to just base hits.
“We’ll have to execute on defense and make the plays,” he added.
Keao also praised freshman Gabriel Maxwell and senior Alyssiah Hernandez. The pair rotate between third base and catcher. “They’re both having good seasons. They’re batting has been good.”
Althia Dicion, the coach’s niece, has been the most consistent hitter to date and could figure big this week.
Saturday’s OIA DII title game is at 5 p.m. at Central Oahu Regional Park, aired live on OC-16. The state tourney is May 12-15 at C.O.R.P. and the UH Softball Stadium.
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