Mililani softball hammers Kapolei, 13-2, to claim 12th OIA championship

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED APRIL 28, 2024

HONOLULU — Trojan town is title town once again.

Mililani captured its first OIA softball title since 2017 with a 13-2 drubbing of Kapolei in the league’s Division I championship game at McKinley’s Tiger Softball Stadium Saturday night.

It was the Trojans’ 12th championship in school history as they scored 13 unanswered runs that was fueled by Makayla Pagampao’s three home runs.

Pagampao, who was selected as the ‘Yeah U Player of the Game,’ drove in six total runs in the win as the Trojans (14-1) won their 10th straight game since their lone loss to Campbell on March 16.

“I’m so happy for her,” pitcher Hinano Bautista said of Pagampao. “I’m just happy I got to have this opportunity, but just for her, hitting all of these home runs, that’s what made us pumped up to score those extra runs we got.”

The Hurricanes (9-7) took an early 2-0 lead with a pair of solo homers in the top of the first, but Pagampao’s three-run bomb in the bottom of the third gave Mililani the lead for good.

Pagampao’s second and third homers of the night were part of an eight-run bottom of the fifth inning. Her final long ball of the night ended the game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.

“I’m pretty confident in my hitting and I know I work hard at it and go to all the lessons I can and just practice as much as I can, so I just saw the ball really well tonight — extra well,” said Pagampao, who will play for Hawai’i Pacific University next year.

Kaui Garcia and Sunni Kahanu also hit a home run for the Trojans in a game where there were seven total long balls.

But it was Mililani’s defense that kept the Trojans in the game after giving up two homers in the top of the first.

“After those two home runs we started playing defense,” said Mililani coach Rose Antonio. “Throughout the game we made the plays and the first couple innings we left runners on base and we didn’t press. We just had to be patient and disciplined and look for our pitch to hit and then manufacture runs and they saw the ball good tonight, a bunch of them.”

It was the third meeting of the season between the two teams, with the trojans outscoring the Hurricanes 46 to 4.

Kapolei was seeking its second league title in three years and fifth overall.