Baldwin will be playing for its first Data House/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association softball championship since 2001 after shutting out No. 2 seed St. Francis, 2-0, last night.

The Maui Interscholastic League champion and No. 3 seeded Bears (16-0) will face top-seeded Mililani (15-2) at 8 tonight at the University of Hawai'i's Rainbow Wahine Stadium.

Mililani defeated 'Iolani, 5-0, in last night's second semifinal.

Baldwin had been eliminated by one run in each of the previous three state quarterfinals, including one 12-inning game and another that went 11 innings.

"It's like, 'Finally!' " said Bears senior Nicole Alconcel, who pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts and hit a two-run homer in the first inning last night. "We've worked hard for three years to get to this accomplishment, and for us seniors this is it, we'll never have this again."

Alconcel, a right-hander who took the loss in each of Baldwin's quarterfinal heartbreakers in 2004, 2005 and 2006, has established herself as the dominant player of 2007. On Thursday, she tossed a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts against a normally hard-hitting Campbell team.

Last night, she allowed only a ground single to left field by Shannon Lum and walked three, with only one runner advancing past third base. That was in the sixth, when Sasha Koki led off with a walk and advanced to third on Jovan Hire's sacrifice bunt.

But Alconcel responded by striking out the next two batters, then got two more strikeouts in the seventh before ending the game with a pop-up to catcher Sanoe Kekahuna.

"You can just see her presence on the mound, there's no other pitcher in this tournament that has had that," said St. Francis coach Mark Glushenko, whose Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Troubadours fell to 13-4 after making their first Division I semifinal appearance. "She was a one-person wrecking crew out there."

Alconcel gave herself the only runs she needed with one out in the top of the first inning, when she launched her home run over the right-center field fence after June Ann Lusk had reached on a single two batters before.

"I was pretty surprised it went out, because my coaches had told me to just make contact, so I hit a line shot," Alconcel said. "It definitely pumped me up, and I think it helped the defense to be up 2-0 early."

Bears coach Rudy Souza said his entire team, which includes nine seniors, is playing with confidence.

"They all believe in themselves," Souza said. "All the seniors have been with us through thick and thin, so we have a lot of confidence in them."

BALDWIN (16-0) 200 000 0 — 2 5 2

ST. FRANCIS (13-4) 000 000 0 — 0 1 0

Nicole Alconcel and Sanoe Kekahuna. Brittany Akana and Ashley Smith. W — Alconcel. L — Akana.

Leading hitters — Baldwin: June Ann Lusk 2-3, run; Alconcel 2-run homer.

MILILANI 5, 'IOLANI 0

The O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion and No. 1 seeded Trojans (15-2) scored four runs on five hits in the top of the first inning and Makani Duhaylonsod scattered six hits in a complete-game effort as Mililani advanced to its third straight state championship game.

Skye Virtudes, Tierra Cuba, Glenelle Nitta and Jaimee Aiwohi had consecutive run-scoring singles in the first inning, and Courtney Senas added an RBI double in the second inning to give Duhaylonsod a big cushion to work with.

She struck out only two, but was supported by an error-free defense and contributed to her own cause with four assists on come-backers to the mound.

'Iolani had scored 10 runs off Moanalua ace Sarah Robinson in Wednesday's first round and got 18 hits in a 12-3 quarterfinal victory over Waiakea Thursday.

"I was trying to jam them inside a little and throw them off with change-ups and sliders," said Duhaylonsod, who was the winning pitcher in the 2005 state title game against Kapolei but lost last year's finale to Pearl City. "I think our defense is really reaching our peak. Everybody did an awesome job."

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Raiders (13-5) threatened in the bottom of the first inning after Kaz Masutani led off with a single and advanced to second on Lauren Oyadomari's groundout. But Masutani was thrown out at home by center fielder Aiwohi to end the inning after Tara Odo's single.

'Iolani would not threaten again until the fifth, when it had runners on first and second with one out. But Duhaylonsod got a groundout to second and nabbed a liner by Kylee Ahlo to kill the rally. The Raiders put runners at first and third with one out in the seventh, but Duhaylonsod again thwarted the threat with a strikeout and grounder to second to end the game.

Trojans second baseman Kristi Oshiro, a freshman, finished with eight assists and first baseman Cuba had 15 putouts.

"I thought Makani did a good job keeping us off-balanced and even when we did hit the ball, she was able to get a glove on it," 'Iolani coach Chris Shimabukuro said. "We couldn't get anything past her."

MILILANI (15-2) 410 000 0 — 5 10 0

'IOLANI (13-5) 000 000 0 — 0 6 1

Makani Duhaylonsod and Skye Virtudes. Kelly Imada and Kai Masutani. W — Duhaylonsod. L — Imada.

Leading hitters — Mililani: Courtney Senas 3-4, double, RBI; Virtudes RBI; Tierra-Lyn Cuba RBI; Glenelle Nitta RBI; Jaimee Aiwohi RBI; Chanelle Senas 2-3, double. 'Iolani: Kai Masutani 2-3, double.

CONSOLATION

KAPOLEI 7, WAIAKEA 3: Ashlyn Ashby had three hits and two RBIs, and Kaili Smith added two hits and three RBIs to lift the Hurricanes (13-6) over the Wildcats (11-3).

KAPOLEI (13-6) 230 110 0 — 7 13 4

WAIAKEA (11-3) 000 101 1 — 3 10 1

Ciara Acierto and Ashlynn Ashby. Brittany Enanoria and Kia-Lee Taroma. W — Acierto. L — Enanoria.

Leading hitters — Kapolei: Tehani Ka'aihue 2-4, double, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Ka'ili Smith 2-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs; Alysha Santiago 2-4, double; Alyssa Dickenson-Dumlao 2-4; Ashby 3-3, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs. Waiakea: Crislyn Hashimoto 2-4, RBI; Nicole Reister 2-4, homer, RBI; Enanoria RBI; Sloane Thomas 2-3, double.

CAMPBELL 4, KAILUA 2: Breanne Patton pitched a five-hitter and Chanel Bali-Gaui hit a solo homer to propel the Sabers (15-3) past the Surfriders (12-6).

KAILUA (12-6) 200 000 0 — 2 5 1

CAMPBELL (15-3) 011 020 X — 4 10 2

Krista Dumandan, Ashley Hopfe (4) and Brittany Tokunaga. Breanne Patton and Anuhea Yamaguchi. W — Patton. L — Hopfe.

Leading hitters — Kailua: Tokunaga RBI; Netia Ulugaono RBI. Campbell: Brittney Garcia 2-3, double; Chanel Bali-Gaui solo homer; Katie Manuma double, 2 runs; Yamaguchi RBI.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.