WAILUKU — Sixteen hours and a little push for the Maui Interscholastic League Division I lead was all the Lahainaluna High School softball team needed.

The Lunas, ranked seventh in the Advertiser's statewide poll, bounced back from their first loss of the season with a dominating 7-0 win over Baldwin yesterday morning at War Memorial Little League Field No. 1.

The three-hit shutout tossed by Tiffany Bonifacio pushed the Lunas (11-1) two games in front of the second-place Bears (9-3) with six games to go in the MIL season. A Baldwin win would have left the two teams tied in the standings and the Bears would have owned the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Baldwin won 3-0 at Lahainaluna's field on Friday evening.

''Yesterday was a very bad day for us,'' Lahainaluna coach Earle Kukahiko said to The Maui News. ''Today we looked like we are back on track. Baldwin is still tough, still a force, but our girls petty much stepped up today and did what they had to.''

Nobody stepped up more for the Lunas than the 5-foot Bonifacio, a senior headed to South Idaho Junior College to play softball in the fall. She struck out four and walked none, finishing the weekend with nine strikeouts and no bases on balls.

''Tiffany did a great job on the mound today,'' Kukahiko said. ''Yesterday, errors killed us. We have been her doing some extra leg work because we need her to be strong for back-to-back games and we are going to need her down the line, so she has been doing extra agilities in practice.

''She is a senior and she feels this is her opportunity to win a championship and she's been working hard.''

Bonifacio said the agility drills Kukahiko spoke of include ''sprints, ladders and hurdles.

''The whole team does one and then I do it again,'' Bonifacio said without her ever-present smile leaving her face. ''They do one and I do two.''

Does anyone, including her sister and catcher, Trisha Bonifacio, join her?

''I try to encourage my sister to do it with me, but she always says no,'' Tiffany Bonifacio said.

The Lunas are seeking their first MIL softball pennant since 2004 and their second in the last 10 years. To get there, Kukahiko said the Lunas will need perhaps every inning from Bonifacio.

''Down the stretch, we may need to ride her all the way out,'' he said.

Kukahiko said that his team emphasizes the state tournament more than the MIL championship, but winning the league gets a team there, as does finishing as the runner-up.

The Lunas do want to finish second, however.

''That was on our minds since yesterday's game,'' Tiffany Bonifacio said. ''We didn't want to be tied with them. Our defense was solid today.''

So were the bats, especially during a four-run third inning. Jamie Smythe and Janal Bala were each hit by a pitch to open the inning. The next two batters, Brittany Baybayan and Tia Keanini, each had RBI groundouts, and Ikapela Watson followed with a sharp single to center that scored two more.

The Lunas padded the lead with RBI singles by Baybayan and Tiffany Bonifacio and an RBI groundout by Keanini in the seventh.

Watson led the Lunas' eight-hit attack with a 2-for-4 day that included a double and three RBIs. Baybayan was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. Bala had a hit and scored twice.

With six games to play, Kukahiko knows his team is anything but safe.

''We have King Kekaulike next week and they can play just as well as we can,'' Kukahiko said. ''We can't take anything for granted. We just have to keep doing what we have been doing.''

Kukahiko said he expects to lose two starters when third-quarter grades come out tomorrow. He changed his batting order slightly yesterday to be able to take advantage of a ''small-ball'' attack.

''Maybe that will wake up some of the girls,'' he said. ''We know with King Kekau-like next week and then the modified third round we still have a lot of work to do.''

Lahainaluna 004 000 3—7 8 0

Baldwin 000 000 0—0 3 0

Tiffany Bonifacio and Tricia Bonifacio. Kaitlin Watanabe and Malia Killam. W—Ti. Bonifacio. L—Watanabe. 2B—LL, Ikapela Watson.

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