HONOLULU — Around this time last year, Hinano Bautista was traveling and playing with the Lady Knights 14s club softball team.
Now the Mililani High freshman is a cog in the machine that is the Trojans softball team – one that already looks essential to its operation.
Bautista, a left-hander, tossed a four-hitter with two walks and a strikeout in an 11-1, five-inning win over defending state champion Campbell at McKinley on Thursday night.
[Note: See below for more photos of the game.]
With the head-turning rout, Mililani (10-1) avenged its only loss of the season and clinched a top-two West seed and a bye in the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs. It can assure itself the No. 1 spot with a win at Kapolei (6-5) in the 3 p.m. regular-season finale Saturday.
Last time the Trojans and Sabers met, Campbell exploded to an 11-2 lead in three innings and held on for an 11-9 win.
“It was just like, after that loss, our first loss of the season, we came back, worked hard at practice every day,” Bautista said. “And all our other (issues) we had before this one, we started improving a lot in our sticks, in our defense, and it worked today.”
Coach Rose Antonio had a good feeling about Bautista in the rematch and gave the freshman the nod for her most significant outing to date. Previously, she'd been used primarily in relief.
“She’s really good. Her energy is very positive,” Antonio said. “All our pitchers actually work hard … in the pen. She got that opportunity. We’re trying different things. We have to. We have a lot of pitchers.”
Her teammates backed her up in a big way. Taryn Hirano, Ka‘ui Garcia, Jerell Oriana Mailo and Makayla Pagampao launched home runs to help the Trojans build a 10-0 lead through four innings. A six-run fourth allowed them to break the game wide open.
Batting ninth, Bautista added a solo home run that put the game in mercy territory in the top of the fifth; it was her turn to don the comically large team home run hat bearing the word “him.”
She was 2-for-2 at the plate.
Teammates chanted, “She’s a freshman!” from the dugout after her heroics and tackled her to the outfield grass when it was time to receive her Spectrum OC16 Impact Player award.
Bautista acknowledged some nerves before the game for her rare start, but quickly shook them off working with battery mate Garcia.
It was the eighth time in 11 OIA West games that Mililani won in mercy-shortened fashion.
Campbell loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth and scored its only run on a two-out walk by Kaienna Fuentes-Arellano. Bautista then got Keyra Moses-Fuller to pop out.
Even down by a significant margin, Michael "Shag" Hermosura's Sabers showed their championship poise with a pair of impressive outfield grabs in the top of the fifth, by left fielder Joy Freitas and center fielder Kayla Whaley. Whaley, who tumbled over the fence on a home run-saving play, was shaken up on the play and had to come out of the game during the mid-inning changeover.
Campbell (9-2) closes the regular season at Nanakuli (1-10) on Tuesday. A win would assure the Sabers a top-two seed and first-round playoff bye.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.