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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Hawai'i teams win national titles

Advertiser Staff

Two Hawai'i teams won championships at the 44th annual Bobby Sox National Tournament of Champions in Fairfield, Calif.

In all, nine teams from O'ahu — from Wai'anae, Wahiawa and Mililani — competed, with the Mililani-Waip'io 14-under and the Mililani 8-under team winning national titles.

Mililani-Waipi'o defeated Heartwell (Calif.), 11-3, in the championship game, despite losing its starting pitcher and head coach/father to a second-inning ejection.

Although Mililani-Waipi'o was playing in its fourth game of the tournament, Heartwell coaches began asking for the umpires to rule that Kylee Rodrigues was employing an illegal pitch by hopping and not dragging her leg after her delivery.

"The coaches started grumbling, then the fans started grumbling," said Kimo Rodrigues, the coach and Kylee's father. "Then they started yelling at my daughter. That's when I lost my marbles ... the fans, they got no right to talk to her like that."

Both were ejected for what Rodrigues said was yelling at the fans.

"We're supposed to be having fun ... supposed to let the kids play, not let the parents take over," Rodrigues said.

Mililani-Waip'io led 2-1 when the ejections occurred. After that, Mililani-Waip'io took off.

"They really picked it up a notch, base-running, defense, hitting, too," Rodrigues said.

Kristen Campogan batted 3 for 4 with two triples and back-up pitcher, Kaylen Ynigues, struck out six and scattered five hits.

"In the end, it was funny. You had to be there," Rodrigues said.

Mililani-Waip'io went unbeaten in the tournament, including a 9-0 semifinal victory over Vacaville. It qualified by winning the state tournament in June.

The Mililani 8U team also went unbeaten in the tournament, beating Heartwell, 7-5, in the semifinals, and Madera (Calif.), 7-6, in seven (regulation) innings in the championship.

"Our reaction was jubilation," coach Eric Ige said. "We were jumping out and down. The other team was very humble and took the loss well."

In the championship, Mililani rallied for two runs in the seventh. Kaili-Ann Akimseu singled in the go-ahead run and also was on the mound when the last out was recorded. With a runner on third, Akimseu threw a pitch that got away from the catcher. The catcher threw to Akimseu, who tagged out the runner at home.

"(I'm) very, very happy, very proud (of) the girls," Ige said. "We worked them five days a week, sometimes 2 1/2 hours a day. The coaching staff was exceptional. We had great parents. It was well worth the effort."

The Mililani 8U team was selected from four other area teams. It advanced by winning a state tournament in June.

Team members are:

Mililani-Waipi'o: Kristen Campogan, Ashlyn Cristobal, Ciara Paracuelles, Alyssiah Hernandez, Tiana Rilveria, Kylee Rodrigues, Kylie Tamaye, Awnteia Terry, Marissa Valmoja, Kaylen Ynigues.

Mililani 8U: Bailey Akimseu, Kaili-Ann Akimseu, Kylie-Ann Bello, Tiana Cantero-Kawelo, Tamia Hirano, Shayna Ige, Velisa Meleisea, Amber Mirafuentes, Robyn Peiler, Colby Rosado, Bree Soma, Kiana Wofford.