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Lady Sea Warrior
Softball returns 14 players
by Chris Alcantara, associate Sports editor
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With a hard-fought .500 record in 2002, the HPU Lady Sea Warriors
softball team is back with a veteran roster sure to be a contender
for a 2003 Pac West conference title.
Coach Howard Okita will not lack in experience this season
as the team will have 13 returning players, nine of them starters
including three pitchers, and three promising freshmen. HPU
will look to its four seniors to play the
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| leadership roles in the dugout and on
the field. Senior Tascha Berinobis, from Kane‘ohe, started all
42 games last season as a junior middle infielder and led the
team in runs batted in (RBI’s) with 31. |
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| Senior utility player Alisa Iloreta,
out of Wailua, Kaua‘i, played in 22 games and was key off the
bench for the Sea Warriors last season. |
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Senior Kristin Fujii, a Honolulu native, started all but one
game in right field in 2002 for Coach Okita and led the team
in triples (3) and walks earned (16). Rounding out the senior
class is returning starter at first base Kim Fukumoto. Fukumoto,
originally from Flagstaff, AZ, had a .282 batting average and
was second on the team in RBI’s (24). “The seniors have been
through the war, they know what its about,” said Okita. “I don’t
want them to feel too much pressure to step up, but I will need
them to lead by example.”
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| Other returning starters include junior
shortstop Brandy Choy Foo of Waimanalo, who led the team in batting
average with an impressive .356. Sophomore third baseman Tiari
Keliinoi, from Mililani, started 36 games and was a solid defender
at the corner as a freshman. Sophomore utility player Jamie Reyes
of Palolo Valley, was second on the team in batting average (.348)
and slugging percentage (.571) last season. |
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“Its nice to have returning starters, but they still need to
improve everyday so that the other teams don’t catch up to them
like they did last season,” said Okita.
HPU also welcomes back junior outfielder Rachel Lacar, from
Pearl City, sophomore utility player Anuhea Diamond of Mililani,
and sophomore outfielder Keanolani Puchalski, from Honolulu.
Also returning after two years is junior infielder Holly Garcia,
from Ewa Beach.
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| In the bullpen, HPU will enjoy the return
of all three of last year’s ace starting pitchers. Junior Jessica
Parra, a Phoenix, AZ native, led all HPU pitchers in wins last
season with eight, as well as strikeouts with 45. Junior Malia
Sullivan, of Sun Valley, CA, is also returning after picking up
six wins and a save in 2002. Sophomore Mallory Anderson, out of
Santa Ana, CA, started 15 games as a freshman and maintained an
earned run average of 2.34. |
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“These are our starters and we will live and die by them,”
said Okita. “They need to understand that they can’t just overpower
hitters and instead start to hit their spots, but they’re getting
better about it.”
Aside from the returnees, HPU has added a few new faces to
the program. Freshmen Jennifer Baron a catcher from Issaquah,
WA, Amber Juan a utility player from Honolulu, and Melani Rawlins
an infielder from Kaunakakai, Molokai.
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“The freshmen just have to come right out and show us they
want to play hard,” said Okita. “I always tell them to stay
on it, because they could be only one out away from starting.”
HPU will be fielding a roster of 17, which is the largest
in recent years according to Okita. However, it seems that such
a large number will surely favor the team, as Okita has nothing
but faith in the depth and abilities of his bench.
“With such a big roster it might be hard to get everybody in
the games,” said Okita. “But as long as everyone keeps improving
and everyone gets their chance to play, we’ll have a good season.”
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