Lady Knights Trying For ‘Hit Parade’ At OIA Playoffs
By Jack Danilewicz
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Back in preseason, Castle girls softball coach Jon Berinobis stopped well short of calling 2008 a rebuilding year, even with six underclassmen on his roster and the probability that three of his starters would be freshmen. But as the veteran coach prepared his team for this week’s OIA Tournament, he had to consider them ahead of schedule.
“I didn’t expect it because of our youth,“said Berinobis, whose team took an 8-3 record into their season finale against Moanalua over the weekend.“They’ve all played and contributed. We’re surprised and proud of what they’ve been doing.”
The Knights, who are seeking their first state tournament appearance in three years, were to know of their seeding for this week’s OIA Tournament late Saturday after the final league games had played out. A win over Moanalua last weekend would have given the Knights the East’s second seed and a first-round bye.A loss would likely move Castle into fourth position, according to Berinobis, meaning Castle would open tournament play on Wednesday. The top five finishers in the OIA’s postseason earn berths to the state softball championships next week. Under the OIA’s updated format, the league’s sixth-place team also can advance to the state tourney by way of winning a play-in game versus a Big Island school. But Berinobis and the girls are hoping it won’t come to that.
“It’s anybody’s game,” he said of the OIA Tournament, which will run Wednesday through Saturday at various sites.“Good defense and timely hitting will make the difference. It’s going to be a tough tournament. Every team in the West has good pitching. We have good pitching in the East, too, so there will be a lot of good matchups.”
With its unique mix of veterans and first-year varsity players, Castle figures to be one of the more interesting teams to track in postseason. Seniors Alana Abbey, Ryanne Dacosin and sisters Kelsea and Kori Berinobis all have lived up to pre-season promise,with big regular seasons for the Knights, while freshmen Leisha Liilii, Maycee Moe and Kaitlynn Wills have played like seasoned veterans.
“The leadership has been there,” Berinobis said of his seniors. “Ryanne’s been hitting the ball pretty well lately - she’s carried us with the long ball, and she’s been steady at shortstop. Kori has great range at second, and she’s been steady in leading off for us.
“At catcher, Kelsea has held down the fort. She went three consecutive games picking runners off of the bases, and they all came at crucial times. At the plate, she hasn’t struck out yet. And Alana has been making some great plays in the outfield.”
Further offensive output has come from the aforementioned trio of freshmen - Moe,Wills and Liilii, who has settled into the No. 3 spot in the batting order.
“Leisha has been very consistent in coming up with the big hits, and Kaitlynn has been a big surprise, too,” Berinobis said.
Moe is currently the No. 2 pitcher behind junior Chandelle Dacosin, who has been the work horse on the staff, compiling a 6-3 record in the regular season. The pair will rotate this weekend.
“Our pitching will have to hold up for us,” Berinobis said. “There will be a lot of good hitters out there - tough outs - so we’ve been working hard at hitting our spots. When we don’t hit our spots, we can get hit hard. Defensively, we’re OK, we’ve been good. Offensively, we hope we haven’t peaked yet.We have to hit more throughout the lineup. We’ve left a lot of people on base.”
The first two rounds of the OIA Tournament will take place at the site of the higher-seeded team with Friday and Saturday’s action to be played at Central Oahu Regional Park.
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