Sabers Join The Arena Of Seasoned Contenders
By Jack Danilewicz
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Coach David Perreira
When his Sabers defeated Kailua in the Oahu Interscholastic Association semifinals recently, it was hard for Campbell High softball coach David Perreira not to reflect on the far-reaching significance of that win.
Only two years ago, after all, Campbell had lost a pre-season game to the Surfriders 30-0, with a lot of the same players still on the Sabers’ roster.
“It was big for our confidence level - knowing not only that we can play with teams like them, but that we can beat them,” Perreira said.“It was a great feeling for our kids and a big win for our school. Kailua is as good as they get. They’ve dominated for a long time.”
As for the loss to Kailua two years ago, in his first season as the Sabers’ head coach, Perreira knew then that in 2007 his youthful line-up would become a group of seasoned veterans.
“The work ethic has been there (at the school) all of these years,” Perreira said.“We were just young and small that year. The kids have matured and become faster and stronger. They’ve been hitting the weights a lot in the last year, and it’s begun to pay off. We knew we had talent, but they’ve bought in and they believe in what we believe in, which is hard work. It’s exciting to be in a position to do something special.”
Campbell will make a second straight appearance in the DataHouse Hawaii Division I State Softball Championships this week at Rainbow Wahine Field on the University of Hawaii campus. The Sabers finished as the OIA’s runner-up after a 4-2 loss to Mililani in the title game Jan. 19, but won the OIA West regular-season crown. Along the way, they even toppled the Trojans twice. In all, the Sabers bring a 13-2 record to the state tournament, with their only other loss in the regular season coming in a 7-0 defeat to Kapolei in the finale. Including pre-season games, Campbell is 22-5-1 since November against one of the state’s toughest schedules.
As in its OIA format, the Sabers will face some of the top pitchers in the state this week. Much of Campbell’s preparation last week centered around its offense, which saw a drop-off in production during the OIA Tournament, according to Perreira.
“The top of the line-up really struggled,” Perreira said. “We’re hoping that will change, although the bottom of the order came through and carried us. It’s been good for us to re-focus our efforts and get back to basics.
“I’ve watched the replays of the Mililani game, and the pressure was on a little back,” he added. “We have to just get back to playing the game and not try to do things we’re not capable of doing.”
Offensively, the Sabers were among the OIA’s best this season, tallying 73 runs during the regular season alone, while compiling a team batting average of .347.
Campbell is led by a veteran cast that features Breann Patton (.478, three home runs, 11 RBI), Leinna Kalua (.412, seven RBI), Chanel Bali-Gaui (.400) and Juraishelei Murray-Thornton (.400), who had a home run versus Mililani in the OIA Tournament.
Defensively, the Sabers have been solid all year at making the routine plays behind a pair of talented pitchers in Patton and Kalua. Having a pair of experienced pitchers in a tournament where depth always figures big should benefit the Sabers. Campbell would have to win four games in four days to capture a state tournament.
“We’ve been very pleased (defensively),” Perreira said. “All the way down the line, from pitcher to all of our defensive positions, we’ve been good.Now,hopefully, we can fire up the bats. (In the state tournament) you have to play good defense, have good pitching and a little luck to help with timely hitting.”
Pairings for the state tournament, which runs Wednesday through Saturday, were to be announced over the weekend.
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