HONOLULU — Mililani and Leilehua entered Tuesday night fairly familiar with each other’s capabilities and tied in the Oahu Interscholastic West division standings.
Thanks to one massive inning, the Trojans exited the evening with a significant leg up on their Central Oahu rival after a 13-1 mercy rule-shortened victory at McKinley.
Senior pitcher Dani Monroe went the truncated distance, mitigating five hits and a walk by striking out seven. But her most remarkable contribution was a three-run home run that launched a 10-run second inning for the Trojans, who improved to 4-1 in completing first of two rotations through West opponents.
“We were just kind of raging in that inning,” Monroe said. “Once it started, we really couldn’t stop it. It was a really good inning, probably one of the best I’ve seen from my team.”
Of her first home run of the season, Monroe, who batted seventh in the order, said with a laugh: “Usually pitchers don’t hit, so it was kind of a good feeling to start that off for the team.”
That half-inning accounted for nearly half of the game’s length; eight of Mililani's 10 hits and four of its seven walks came in the frame. The Trojans batted around before a single out was recorded.
Designated player Makayla Pagampao followed Monroe’s blast with an opposite-field solo shot to right and, after Leilehua coach Wendell Au swapped out starter Xaniah Toaiva-Talo for Trinity Cabana-Rodrigues, shortstop Mackenzie Kila punished the Mules for walking the bases loaded with a line-drive grand slam to center.
“Once you run into one of those innings, it’s hard to come back out of it,” Au said. “This is … a different team than I had in the past, but definitely a good team. So hopefully (it’s) just lessons learned throughout, and learning how to get into contact mode. Dani pitched a hell of a game. We’re just overswinging.”
Mililani tacked on three more in the bottom of the third as insurance for ending the game in five innings.
The lone run for Leilehua (3-2) came in the top of the fourth on consecutive hits by Kanani Kekahuna-Fernandez and Dynestee Kanae-Huihui, followed by an RBI groundout from Teti Suivaaia.
Mililani ended any hopes of Leilehua extending the game at that point, as first baseman Kolbi Kochi cleanly fielded a hot shot off the ground from Cabana-Rodrigues, tapped the bag and and fired the ball to home to allow catcher Jackie Kirkpatrick to tag out a sliding Kanae-Huihui to complete an inning-ending double play.
Mililani now begins the second round through the West with the team that dealt it a loss right off the bat – Kapolei. The Hurricanes (5-0) won at Mililani 10-8 the first time through the order on March 18.
“You know what, after the first game against Kapolei, we’re moving in a positive direction,” Mililani coach Rose Antonio said. “We’re getting better every game. … We’ll see Kapolei Friday, so we’ll see our progress.”
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.