Kadena Panthers right-hander Monica Hayes delivers against the Kubasaki Dragons during Wednesday's Game 1 of the 2008 Okinawa Activities Council district girls softball championship best-of-three series at Camp Foster, Okinawa. Kubasaki beat Kadena 10-6. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Kadena Panthers right-hander Monica Hayes delivers against the Kubasaki Dragons during Wednesday's Game 1 of the 2008 Okinawa Activities Council district girls softball championship best-of-three series at Camp Foster, Okinawa. Kubasaki beat Kadena 10-6. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Kubasaki Dragons shortstop Veronica Johnston, right, readies a tag for Kadena Panthers baserunner Jennifer Jones during Wednesday's Game 1 of the 2008 Okinawa Activities Council district girls softball championship best-of-three series. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — After beating Kadena just twice in the Okinawa Activities Council baseball league’s first four seasons, Kubasaki now basks in the glow of a nine-game winning streak over the Panthers.
Freshman Grant Whittington hurled a complete-game three-hitter, fanning eight as the Dragons closed the OAC district championship series by shutting out Kadena 10-0 Thursday at Foster Field 9. That came 24 hours after senior Dillon Mach blanked Kadena by the same score.
The winning streak dates back to the 2007 OAC championship series, when Kubasaki trailed Kadena 10-4 in the opener but rallied for seven runs to take Game 1 11-10, then shut out Kadena 2-0 in Game 2 last May 18-19. Coach Randy Toor said Kubasaki’s seniors were determined to repeat.
“Our seniors, they set the standard all along. We wanted it this year,” he said. “Winning nine straight against Kadena is hard to do. But we kept hitting the ball. We played good ball all year.”
Senior Mike Fulwiler, who joined the team during the lean days when Kadena dominated, said that became a motivator for the Dragons.
“That’s been a driving force for us,” he said. “We come out firing. It’s a team thing. We’ve built a program, we’ve been at it since my freshman year. I hope that work ethic sticks.”
Fulwiler scored three runs, while Mach went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs and Kento Short and Kaleb Robinson each knocked in two runs in the clincher, played in driving drizzle and high wind at Foster Field 9. In the third and fourth innings, Kubasaki scored three runs with two out.
“We’ve been doing that a lot this year,” Toor said.
Kadena went through five pitchers in the deciding game. Starter Ryan Yerger was tagged with the loss, giving up four runs and four hits in 1 1/3 innings.
“Good program. Dedicated players. Disciplined players,” Kadena coach Martin Robertson said of Kubasaki. “They came out and took control of the game. We had our chances; we just couldn’t get the hit at the right time. Kubasaki had a great season. It just didn’t happen for us.”
Kadena sends OAC softball championship to third gameCHIBANA RECREATION AREA, Okinawa — While Kubasaki’s boys enjoyed a two-game sweep, Kadena’s girls rallied from an 8-2 fourth-inning deficit to send the OAC championship to a third and deciding game for the first time in the softball league’s six-season history.
Karol Whitfield’s loop single to right field drove in Abbi Kinghorn from second with the game-winning run as the Panthers capped the rally with an 11-10 eighth-inning triumph, knotting the series 1-1. Kubasaki won the opener 10-6 on Wednesday at Foster Field 2.
Nicole Mikaio helped fuel the rally with three RBIs, two on a pinch-hit single in the sixth and one on a fielder’s choice in the seventh.
Game 3 is slated for 4:30 p.m. Friday at Chibana Field 2, with a makeup date set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Foster Field 4 in case of rain; forecasts call for a 50 percent chance of showers Friday and Saturday.
