In softball, probably even more so than baseball, a good pitcher can take you a long way. Just look at how far Amber Waracka took Kamehameha in the state tournament with three lights-out performances.

A softball pitcher, unlike her baseball counterpart, can often start and finish two, three or even four games in one week.

And when you have a pitcher like that who can start as a freshman, man, you’re set for four years.

That’s what Mililani and Moanalua had in Makani Duhaylonsod and Sarah Robinson, respectively. Somebody reliable you could send out time and again, confident that they will hold the other team down to one, two or maybe three runs. A lot of times, it was zero.

But now, both Duhaylonsod and Robinson have graduated. Talk about big shoes to fill.

Obviously, pitchers like these don’t come around too often, so it will be interesting to see who emerges next season. Kamehameha is one of the few programs to not really skip a beat in the pitcher’s circle since 2002. After Advertiser State Player of the Year Leo Sing Chow graduated, Brandi Peiler and Kate Robinson combined to fill the void, and then Noe Esperas kept it going until 2007, when Waracka took over as the ace.

Kailua won an OIA championship in 2006, the year after four-year starter Courtney Kessell graduated, and Krista Dumandan and Ashley Hopfe did a relatively good job helping fill that void. But certainly, the Surfriders program is still trying to recapture the dominance of the Kessell era.

Pearl City, the 2006 state champ, still has not recovered since losing a senior class led by pitchers/third basemen Marina Gusman-Brown and Corrie Nishikida. And last year’s state champ, Baldwin, is still rebuilding after graduating four-year ace Nicole Alconcel.

Duhaylonsod and Robinson both burst onto the scene as freshmen in the 2005 state tournament, and have been fixtures in their respective programs ever since. Duhaylonsod helped the Trojans win the state title in ‘05, and Robinson helped Moanalua emerge as a state contender.

As time went on, both got steadily better not just as pitchers but also as hitters, to the point where each became one of the league’s most dangerous sluggers.

Waracka also leaves a big void at Kamehameha, so with no real dominant pitcher on the horizon, it should be a very interesting 2009 softball season.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 1:45 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.