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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, April 13, 2007

Women's team wins Las Vegas softball title

Advertiser Staff

The Full Throttle team, made up of women from O'ahu and Maui, won the Triple Crown Softball Spring National Championships at Las Vegas in March.

Photo courtesy of Kehau Deboma

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Despite starting out with just eight players, Full Throttle came away with the tournament title at the Triple Crown Softball Spring National Championships in March in Las Vegas.

The team, made up of women from O'ahu and Maui, went 6-0 in the 13-team tournament and qualified for another Triple Crown tournament, Oct. 26 and 27, also in Las Vegas.

Full Throttle got off to a rocky start, when three players from Maui were not able to arrive in Las Vegas in time for the team's first game, leaving the team with just eight players. After discussions with a tournament official and the other team, the game was played and Full Throttle rolled to an 11-1 victory.

Full Throttle played without a second baseman and one outfielder, with the shortstop and pitcher covering extra space to make up for the two absent fielders.

At the plate, the team was handicapped as well, having to take an out for each of the missing two players when their turn in the order came up.

Still, the team took advantage of solid base running and timely hitting.

"Everybody hit, everybody got on base," coach Gette Panui said of the first game. "The girls are smart base runners. They took advantage of the situation when they could."

The players from Maui showed up in time for the team's second game.