Tennessee softball gets boost from Hawai'i | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Tennessee softball gets boost from Hawai'i | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Tennessee softball gets boost from Hawai'i

By Leila Wai and Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Redlands sophomore Johanna Chapman (Punahou '05) and senior DJ Tano ('Iolani '03) had solid performances at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships, April 28 and 30. Tano won the shot put with a toss of 49 feet, 4.25 inches and hammer throw (157-6). He was second in the discus (145-0). Chapman was sixth in the discus (98-0), eighth in the hammer throw (111-10) and 13th in the shot put (27-8.75).

University of Redlands photo

Anita Manuma

Liane Horiuchi

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Hawai'i's Anita Manuma and Liane Horiuchi helped the Tennessee softball team win its first regular season Southeastern Conference title last weekend.

"The SEC is a great conference, and winning the title, we set it as one of our primary goals," said Horiuchi, a sophomore shortstop and 2005 Kamehameha graduate. "It was great to accomplish, but there are other goals we want to focus on."

Manuma, a 2006 Campbell grad, said "the whole week (leading up to playing Alabama) was hard, because we had just lost to LSU and we dropped to No. 2 (nationally). We were pumped up. The whole week we were working our butts off."

Manuma said the team feels "really confident" heading into the postseason.

"I've been on teams that won state championships, but (Sunday) was even greater," Manuma. "Me and Liane, our goal was to help Tennessee win a title, win the SEC and a national title."

"I love it that Anita is here," Horiuchi said. "We've know each other for about seven years now. It's great having someone from back home by your side, missing the same things."

MORE SOFTBALL

Puget Sound senior second baseman Lindsay Fujita (Punahou '03 of Honolulu) and Pacific freshman second baseman Kelly Nishitomi (Castle '06 of Kane'ohe) were named to the Northwest Conference second team.

Fujita batted .317 with team highs in runs (34), home runs (9) and RBIs (34). Nishitomi had a .259 batting average and tied for the team lead with 16 stolen bases.

Puget Sound sophomore infielder Kelli Ishii (Punahou '05) and George Fox sophomore catcher Kerstyn Tsuruda (Kalaheo '04 of Waimanalo) were honorable mention picks.

Ishii was second on the team with a .337 batting average. Tsuruda batted .222 with 22 hits, seven doubles, two triples, seven RBIs and 10 runs.

Seattle University sophomore catcher Kaha Weir (Punahou '05) was an honorable mention all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection.

Weir batted .264 with five doubles, three triples and 11 RBIs.

Brigham Young junior outfielder Emi Snow (Kamehameha '04) hit her 15th home run of the season — a three-run shot in the first inning — in an 11-10 win over Colorado State Saturday.

BASEBALL

At least one player from Hawai'i will be playing in the NCAA baseball regionals in June.

Reserve outfielder J.J. Eno (Baldwin '04) of Brown is part of the school's first Ivy League championship team.

"Winning the Ivy League was definitely a thrill, and it is exciting to know we'll be playing a top-tier team at the regionals," Eno said in an e-mail. "We played South Carolina earlier in the year, so hopefully we can use that experience to make a little noise in the NCAA tournament."

Brown swept a best-of-three series from Pennsylvania over the weekend to become the first qualifier for the regionals. This will be Brown's first tournament appearance. It is 24-18 overall and 14-6 in conference. Eno is batting .312, playing in 31 of the team's 42 games, and starting in 21.

Navy senior second baseman Michael Garcia (Kalaheo '02) earned all-Patriot League first-team honors.

Garcia led the league with a .414 (29 for 70) batting average and a .539 (48 for 89) on-base percentage. The team captain scored 22 runs, drove in 14, stole six bases and belted two doubles and a home run in league play.

Garcia's 62 base hits heading into the weekend are tied for the ninth-most in program history. Between March 25 and April 16, he strung together a team-best 14-game hitting streak, a period in which he batted .453 (24 for 53) with 21 runs scored and 11 RBIs.

Sacramento State senior pitcher Chris Mols (Roosevelt '02) pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his first win of the season — it also was the first of his career — to help his team beat New Mexico State, 3-2, last Friday. The Hornets swept the Aggies and clinched a berth in the six-team Western Athletic Conference tournament May 24 to 27 in Reno, Nev. The Hornets finished their WAC schedule at 10-14 and will finish the rest of their season with nonconference games. Mols also pitched three strong innings against Pacific earlier last week.

San Diego State junior shortstop Troy Hanzawa (Mid-Pacific '03) was 4 for 9 with two steals, but it wasn't enough to help his Aztecs, who were swept in a three-game series by UNLV over the weekend.

Cal State Northridge senior second baseman Jonathan Sakurai ('Aiea '03) went 6 for 11 with four RBIs and two steals over the weekend against UC Davis, whick took the series 2-1.

Rochester (N.Y.) freshman infielder Blayne Fuke (Mid-Pacific '06 of Kane'ohe) started all 36 games, and batted .266, with three doubles and 10 RBIs.

Creighton junior infielder Michael Lam (Punahou '04) extended his career-long hitting streak to eight games as he hit .545 with two doubles and an RBI in a three-game series with Southern Illinois over the weekend.

Cal State Stanislaus senior right-hand pitcher Jason Peters (Kaiser '02) pitched a complete game shutout, giving up six hits with four strikeouts in a 2-0 win over San Francisco State Sunday.

Central Arizona JC freshman outfielder C.J. Johnson ('Iolani '06) went 6 for 13 with a double, triple and four RBIs in a best-of-3 series with Chandler-Gilbert College in the first round of the NJCAA Region I (Division I) tournament.

Central Arizona plays Cochise May 10 to 12 for the championship.

Merced freshman infielder Colby Ho (Kaiser '06) and sophomore pitcher Allen Komori (Kalani '04) were named to the all-Central Valley Conference first team.

Also playing for Merced are freshman outfielder Scott Uehara (Kaiser '06) and freshman infielder Andrew Uehara (Kaiser '06).

Monterey Peninsula JC sophomore catcher Jarren Hirasaki (McKinley '05) is fourth on the team with a .315 batting average in Coast Conference play. He has 13 RBIs and four doubles.

Freshman catcher Logan Kanamu (Baldwin '06), freshman pitcher/outfielder Jimmy Legsay (Baldwin '06) and freshman pitcher Kainoa Ribao (King Kekaulike '06) are also on the team.

Legsay started 12 games with a 4-4 record and .4.76 ERA in 81 1/3 innings pitched.

TRACK AND FIELD

Azusa Pacific junior Nate Nasca (Pearl City '04) finished second in the 100-meter dash (10.98 seconds) and 110 hurdles (14.94) at the Golden State Athletic Conference championships, April 27 and 28. He earned all-GSAC honors in both events.

Nasca's 4x100 relay team won in 42.15 seconds.

Nasca has big plans following the conclusion of this track season.

"I will be coming back to Hawai'i to play football for the UH," Nasca said in an e-mail. "I am looking to finish my track career here at Azusa and will be enrolling in UH in the fall semester."

Westmont freshman Lorin Milotta (Waialua '04) was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.76), 13th in the 400 hurdles (1:13.64, preliminaries) and fifth with her 4x400 relay team.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Idaho State senior defender Jen Loo (Mililani '03) was named the ISU women's soccer co-most valuable player at the school's awards banquet.

Loo, a three-time all-Big Sky Conference first-team selection, is in the top 10 career lists for goals, assists, points, games played and games started.

MEN'S GOLF

Senior Matt Ma ('Iolani '02) and the Oregon Ducks received an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament West Regional.

FOOTBALL

Western Oregon wide receiver Shaun Kauleinamoku (Saint Louis '05 of 'Ewa Beach) caught two touchdown passes in a spring football scrimmage April 21.

He caught a 5-yard touchdown pass in a game against the alumni April 28. He led the Wolves receivers with five catches for 61 yards.

Also on the Western Oregon roster are wide receiver Kyle Beck (Nanakuli '04), wide receiver Brad Ching (Kailua '02), defensive back Sy Cullen (Kamehameha '04 of Kapolei), linebacker Gerritt Vincent (Kamehameha '06 of Hau'ula) and linebacker J.J. La'a (Wai'anae '05).

COMMITMENT

'Iolani's Marya Kaminski, a middle hitter/outside hitter will join the women's volleyball program at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.

"Marya is a big hitter who is capable of playing anywhere in the front row," Washington coach Rich Luenemann said in a release. "She pounds the ball and has the ability to become one of the terminal attackers we need in 2007. She also puts up a huge block, which is a key to our defense."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com and Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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