KAPA‘A — Waimea High School pitcher Taelor Camelo limited Kapa‘a bats to just three hits over seven innings to pick up the 5-0 win, Wednesday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation softball contest waged at the wind-blown Kapa‘a High School diamond.
Camelo finished the seven-inning shutout by striking out five Lady Warriors and walking just two.
Kapa‘a pitcher Seijia Makanani was strapped for the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out five Menehune batters and walking five.
Waimea struck early when lead-off hitter Sianni Sakai singled. and scored off a Ryleah Torres RBI double for the early lead that was added on in the second inning when the Menehune scored three runs on just one hit, a Warrior error, and three walks.
Sakai, walking firstbase following a Kapa‘a double play, scored the “insurance run” in the fourth inning on a Kayla Prigge RBI single.
Kapa‘a picked up its first of three hits in the second inning when Tira Ann Kaui singled, but was left stranded.
Kaia Davis-Caberto picked up Kapa‘a second hit in the third frame, and with two outs, her efforts to score on a Makanani at-bat ended following a spectacular play at home when Waimea catcher Prigge tagged Davis-Caberto who attempted to leap over the Menehune catcher to elude the tag.
Kai-Lee Kupihea picked up Kapa‘a third hit in the seventh inning, but was caught trying to stretch the single.
Torres swung the hot bat for the Menehune, finishing with a pair of two-baggers and driving in two Menehune runners. The Menehune catcher Prigge finished with two hits and an RBI, and Sakai, scoring two Waimea runs, was limited to a hit with one RBI. Hunter Akita, in her first at-bat in the fifth inning, singled, and Nia Pablo rounded out the Menehune hits with a single in the second inning.
The next softball games take place, Friday when Kaua‘i High School travels to the Waimea Canyon Park to face the Menehune in a double-header when the first pitch goes off at 3:30 p.m. The change in schedule was done to accommodate the Kaua‘i High School players who will be participating in the school’s prom.
