Hawaii Pearls A Collection Of West Softball Standouts

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Hawaii ASA/Oahu Junior Olympic 18-and-Under “A” Division State Champions the Hawaii Pearls (front, from left) Shavanna Holt-Santiago, Lacey Santiago, Kai Clark, Brittni Crabbe, Ashley McKewon, (middle) Kailey Fernandez, Chanelle Senas, Taylor Yamaguchi, Tanisha Aniya, Amber Waracka, (back) Ka’ili Smith, Tehani Kaaihue, Bre Patton, Mel Awa, Kaylen Ynigues and Sarah Robinson. Photo from Amber Waracka.

As Hawaii Pearls’ head softball coach Tony Saffery filled out his lineup this summer, the image of Lacey Santiago was much on his mind. The recent Molokai High graduate was determined to take advantage of her time on Oahu, and she succeeded to that end, helping the Pearls win the Hawaii ASA/Oahu Junior Olympics 18-and-under division state title.

“She’d always wanted to play somewhere on Oahu, and her mom (Zhantel Dudoit) was very dedicated about bringing her over here each week to play with us. She would play games on Saturday and Sunday and fly home on Monday and Tuesday usually. When we went back to practice on Wednesday evening, she’d be there. This went on all summer.”

Santiago’s contributions were noteworthy for another reason, as she found herself as the only player on the roster who had played at a Division II school. Moreover, eight of the Pearls - Shavanna Holt-Santiago (Southern Nevada/Kapolei), Kai Clark (Eastern Carolina/Kapolei), Tehani Kaaihue (New Mexico State/Kapolei), Ka’ili Smith (Mississippi State/Kapolei), Sarah Robinson (UH/Moanalua), Amber Waracka (Kamehameha/UHHilo), Mel Awa (Hawaii Pacific), and Bre Patton (Hawaii Pacific/Campbell) - will be playing college softball in the fall.

“She was surrounded by standouts,” said Saffery, who quickly put Santiago in the same class.“She handled herself really well. She was a big plus. She has tremendous speed. She wreaked a lot of havoc with her bunting and running.”

Santiago, who was the MIL Player of the Year last March, spent the Pearls’ 13-game season mostly in the middle infield, but shifted to the outfield for the playoffs while holding down the No. 2 spot in the team’s batting hierarchy. The Pearls won all seven of their post-season games to qualify for the national tournament next month, but won’t be making the trip, as it comes too late in the year for most.

“Our kids will already be in school, so it comes too late in the game for us, but this was a nice send-off for those who ended their ASA careers,” Saffery said.

Saffery pointed to pitching as a big reason why the Pearls were able to close out a state title in an ultra-competitive league that featured 20 different teams.“Pitching was a big key - we really rode Amber (Waracka) all the way through, and she did a good job. Sarah pitched some games, too, but she was mostly at third.”

Hawaii Pearls had its share of one-run games, according to Saffery, with only “one blow-out win” among their seven state tournament games. They also were productive on the offensive side when they needed to be.

“The girls were seeing the ball real well by the end,” he added, “Ka’ili, Tehani, Sarah, Kai and Kailey - all the way around (the lineup) we hit the ball well.”

In all, eight different high schools were represented on the Pearls roster, making for an interesting mix, since most of the girls crossed paths as opponents during the course of their prep careers.

“It’s nice to put down the colors and have them come together under one jersey,” Saffery said. “They all got along well. Their camaraderie was at its finest.”