Kapolei Finds Late-season Success
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usIf this week’s DataHouse Division I Hawaii State Softball Championships were a dance, Kapolei would be the team waiting near the punchbowl to steal your date.
Indeed, with wins in seven of their last eight games, the Hurricanes figure to be high atop the lists of teams that opposing schools would rather not meet in the first round. Moreover, history has a way of repeating itself, and Kapolei has made it a habit of playing its best softball when it counts, with Oahu Interscholastic Association titles in 2004 and 2005 as well as the 2004 state championship.
Kapolei recently finished fifth in the 2007 OIA Tournament. The Hurricanes followed up a 1-0 defeat to Kailua in the semifinals to post wins against Roosevelt and Waipahu (also a state tournament qualifier).
In what figures to be a balanced tournament, the Hurricanes could make their mark should they maintain their level of play over the last three weeks of the regular season.
“A lot of us coaches chat and, across the board, it (states) will be competitive,” said Tony Saffery, whose team is 11-5 overall.“It’s anybody’s game. The difference? The team that shows up and stays focused from start to finish will win it. You have to keep mistakes to a minimum. That’s every coach’s thought process right now. (Having the ability) to make the routine play.”
Saffery traced Kapolei’s late season success to some fine-tuning with his batting order. Since placing Tehani Kaaihue, Deja Manubag and Kai’ili Smith in the first three spots, Kapolei’s run production “has been unreal,” according to Saffery.
“The first two or three batters can set the tone, and that breeds success (from the rest of the order). We had Kai’ili in the fourth spot. She has No. 4 power, but we couldn’t get base runners for her.”
Kapolei went 4-1 in the second half of the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Red West Conference, losing only to traditional power Mililani during that stretch.Among Kapolei’s recent victories was a 7-0 win over Campbell on Jan. 10, the only defeat suffered by the Sabers in the regular season. (See related story on Campbell.)
“That game made them realize they can compete with anybody,” said Saffery. “Going into the state tournament, we’re a little more focused than we’ve been. They realize they have a second chance to grab another prize.”
Defensive struggles define state tournaments more often than not. In pitchers Kishti Kamaka and junior Ciara Acierto, Saffery has as much depth at the position as any other team in the tournament, so defensively, the Hurricanes figure to be able to hold their own.
“Kishti’s done a wonderful job, and Ciara’s a sleeper,” Saffery said. “She pitched for us in the must-win game (against Roosevelt) that got us into the tournament. I have the best of both worlds. (Whoever starts in the first round) will be a matter of who matches up well with the other team. It would be tough to pick one and two. Both can do the job.”
Kapolei has received an added boost from its team unity, which has blossomed over the course of the long season in Saffery’s view.
“They’ve been playing well as a team,“said Saffery, whose team lost 12 starters to graduation last May. “We always had the individual talent to compete and compete well, but during the first half of the season we were still trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together and find our team’s identity. Now we have an army of juniors and seniors who are playmakers.”
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