Kamehameha-Hawai`i graduate Kiani Wong has a specific role on the University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine Softball team: don’t get plucked off of the bases and score.
Wong hasn’t had an at-bat all season, but the freshman for Bob Coolen’s team finds a way to get on the field by scoring when her number is called.
Wong entered the game in the bottom of the fifth inning as a pinch-runner for Kayla Wartner and scored when Jessica Iwata punched a two-run single into center field. The Rainbow Wahine defeated Minnesota 3-0 in the NCAA Softball Regional held in Seattle, WA.
The game featured a pitcher’s duel between Hawai`i ace Kaia Parnaby and Minnesota standout Sara Moulton. Offense was minimal until the bottom of the fifth inning when Karla Kliebenstein struck a double into the left-center field gap with one out. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, fellow freshman Keiki Carlos reached on an infield single, scoring Kliebenstein to put Hawai`i up 1-0.
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Wong pinch-ran for Wartner, who earlier walked, at second base when Iwata opened up the lead with her two-run single. It was Wong’s ninth run scored on the season.
Hawai`i advances to the winner’s bracket of the Seattle regional. The Rainbow Wahine will face either host Washington, seeded 11th in the entire tournament, or Portland State at 10:00 a.m. Hawai`i time Saturday.
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