KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a High School powered into four homeruns to propel the Lady Warriors to a 22-1 win over Kaua‘i High School, Wednesday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation softball contest waged at the Kapa‘a High School diamond.
Seija Makanani, the Warriors’ pitcher, topped the Warriors’ hitting with a perfect four-for-four showing in the box, including a triple that stretched into an in-the-park homer in the fourth inning. Makanani was credited with scoring five times, a pair of triples and a pair of singles that drove in three runs in the matchup where Kapa‘a accumulated 17 hits for its 22 runs.
On the mound, Makanani held Kaua‘i batters to just one run on three allowed hits while striking out six Raider hitters and walking none.
Warrior catcher Savanna Simons picked up her second homerun of the season with her 2-run shot that soared over the leftfield fence close to a group of spectators parked at left-center to start the fourth inning homerun whack-a-thon. Simons finished by scoring twice and had two hits with three RBI.
Kapa‘a’s Hailey Gibson, finishing with two hits, including a 3-run in-the-park HR, drove in four runs, and scored twice in the five-inning outing.
Kaua‘i’s sole run materialized in the fourth when Mia Marty got aboard on her hit, one of three allowed. She crossed the plate on Jeyslen Orial’s RBI single. Zylah Blackstad-Texeira was the other Red Raider picking up a hit against Makanani.
Red Raider pitcher Daelynn Keale suffered the loss on the mound, allowing 15 Earned Runs of the 22 scored by Kapa‘a on 17 hits, including the trio of homers in the fourth. She picked up five strikeouts of Kapa‘a hitters and walked seven.
With the win, Kapa‘a next faces Waimea in a rematch of the season-opening 5-5 tie, Saturday in a double-header at the Kapa‘a High School field. The first pitch goes at 10 a.m. with the second contest starting following a 30-minute break after the first game.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
