That’s a variation of the old baseball saying, that good pitching will usually beat good hitting.

But going into Saturday’s Division I softball state championship game, I have no idea what will happen because I’m still trying to grasp the incredible feats I’ve seen from Mililani and Kamehameha’s Amber Waracka the past two nights.

Mililani is on a hitting tear like I’ve never seen before in baseball or softball. Two games, 36 runs on 46 hits, 10 doubles, two home runs, scoring in 12 out of 13 innings. And the hits literally came from up and down the lineup, with all nine starters getting at least one.

Also, the Trojans don’t just hit; they can run, too. And they’re not shy about taking the extra base, even if the risk sometimes results in an out.

Then again, Mililani has yet to face a pitcher like Waracka in this tournament. I don’t think there has been a pitcher quite like Waracka in the state tournament for a very long time, especially in terms of statistics. Thirty-five strikeouts in two games? Eighteen strikeouts in seven innings?

I don’t know if anyone keeps records on that stuff, but Waracka’s numbers have got to be close.

She said she felt more comfortable Friday night compared to Thursday, her first state tournament start.

“Last night I was nervous, crazy,” Waracka said. “I had a different mindset tonight, to get us to the championship game.”

As far as an intriguing matchup of contrasting styles, not to mention another potentially great pitchers’ duel between Waracka and Makani Duhaylonsod (a terrific big-game pitcher), you can’t ask for much better.

Should be a great game, a great way to end another memorable sports year.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 1:36 am and is filed under Prep Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.