In her school's first-ever DataHouse/HHSAA Softball Division I State Championships appearance, freshman Keiki Carlos pitched a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts and one walk yesterday to lift Mid-Pacific to an 11-0 first-round victory over Hilo.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Owls improved to 11-4 in the regular and postseason and will face No. 3 seed and Maui Interscholastic League champ Baldwin (14-0) in today's 3 p.m. quarterfinal at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

"We're excited," said Carlos, a 5-foot-4 right-hander. "All of these teams are good, so we just have to keep working hard at everything."

Carlos, who said she was "a little nervous" when the game started, looked like a veteran from the outset.

She struck out her first 10 batters, getting ahead 0-1 or 0-2 in the count on most of them.

An infield error with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning broke up the perfect game, and the only walk Carlos allowed came in the fifth.

"She is amazing," said MPI coach Willie Quinn. "For a freshman, she has great composure, she doesn't get rattled. She's been pitching in some pressure games but she somehow comes through."

The Owls led only 1-0 through five innings, but gave Carlos some breathing room with a four-run sixth after Corrie Murashige's two-run single to left field and Kristin Yama's two-run bloop single to right.

MPI then blew it open with six runs in the seventh, aided by a Hilo error and a wild pitch, both of which directly led to runners scoring from third.

But it turned out Carlos did not need the extra run support, as she stayed in complete command.

"I like to mix it up, I don't have one key pitch," Carlos said. "I just tried to get ahead on every batter, and my defense backed me up."

Carlos said in the offseason she worked with special pitching coach Tony Sellitto, who was regarded as the state's top fast-pitch softball player in the 1960s but now is better known as Hawai'i Pacific University men's basketball coach and the builder of Maryknoll's powerhouse boys basketball program in the 1970s and 1980s.

"He just works with me and tells me to practice hard," Carlos said.

Said Quinn: "I would give (Sellitto) credit, too."

MID-PACIFIC (11-4) 010 004 6—11 15 5

HILO (10-3) 000 000 0— 0 0 3

Keiki Carlos and Kaydi Kochi. Scottlyn Wong, Ashlyn Kaneshiro (6), Tiffany Hoota (7) and Kadilyn Pulgados. W — Carlos. L — Wong.

Leading hitters — Mid-Pacific: Corrie Murashige 2-4, double, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Kristin Yama 3-4, double, 3 RBI; Kaydi Kochi 2-4, double; Kacy Aoki 3-3, 3 runs; Courtney Niino 2-4, 2 runs. Hilo: none.