Sabers Put Aside Differences To Form Stronger Team

Wednesday - May 07, 2008
By Jack Danilewicz
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Campbell's Breanne Patton sets her eyes on a strike-out during practice
Campbell’s Breanne Patton sets her eyes on a strike-out during practice. Photo by Byron Lee, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

At mid-season, the Campbell girls softball team was a group more likely to be undone from within rather than from without, to hear Saber coach David Perreira tell it.

As the Sabers go about their preparation for next week’s DataHouse Division I state softball championships, those days seem a long time gone now.

“We had a lot of internal problems on the team,” said Perreira. “We did a lot of talking with the girls to help them battle through their problems. A lot of it was teenage-type stuff. They’ve worked out their differences, and they’ve been playing well as a team lately. This team has grown up a lot, especially the seniors.”

Even with moments of strife in the dugout, the Sabers have managed to stay the course on the playing field throughout most of 2008, having finished 9-3 in the ultra-competitive Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Red West division. Perreira and Company were to meet Moanalua last Friday night in the semifinals of the OIA Tournament in hopes of making the league title game for a second straight year. To date, the Campbell’s only losses have come to Mililani (twice) and Kapolei.


While there was momentum to be gathered over the weekend, Perreira welcomed the 11-day layoff that ensued. Without a game on their schedule until next week, the Sabers are hoping to regain the services of outfielder Brittany Garcia, who was hospitalized recently with a stomach ailment and missed the OIA Tournament.

Garcia is part of an all-star cast for Campbell that also includes veterans Amber Kaulia, Katie Manuma, Chanel Baligaui, Loreen Egdamin, Breanne Patton and Leinna Kalua.

“Loreen’s been consistent all year,“Perreira said of Egdamin,“and it’s the same with Bre (Patton). Katie (Manuma) and Chanel (Baligaui) have also done really well. Chanel was a part-time starter last year and she’s started every game for us this season.”

Kalua helped lead the way in Campbell’s quarterfinal win over Castle last week by going 2-for-3 at the plate, with a double and two runs batted in. A senior, Kalua missed much of the first part of the Sabers’ Red West slate while serving a suspension for violating team rules. Since being reinstated, she has steadily become a force again for the team.

“She’s grown up a lot in the last year,” Perreira said. “She paid her dues. She didn’t complain during that time (that she was suspended), and she’s come back to prove that she belongs in the lineup.”


The Sabers pounded out an impressive 10 hits in the aforementioned OIA quarterfinal versus Castle, but their defensive play and pitching should figure big in determining their fate at the state tournament next week.

“Those (pitching and defense) are the two biggest keys - as well as clutch hitting and being able to run the bases well,“Perreira said. “The team that wins (the tournament) will be the team that sticks together and fights to the end. It comes from within. We just have to keep on going and playing together as a team.”

Pairings for the state tournament, which will take place next Wednesday through Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium on the University of Hawaii campus, will be announced Sunday afternoon.

 

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