Softball

The timing of Rachael Turner’s final swing last Saturday couldn’t have been better — in every possible sense. The Rainbow Wahine softball team had won the first two games of its Big West series with Cal Poly but appeared destined to settle for a split of last Saturday’s doubleheader. With Cal Poly leading 2-0 with two out in the seventh inning in the series finale, the Mustangs pitched around UH slugger Callee Heen and Cheeks Ramos kept the inning going […]

Inseparable since 7, Heather Cameron and Jennifer Iseri were warned their softball careers would likely diverge after high school. The duo met on an 8-and-under all-star team in southern California, attended elementary schools across the street from each other, then went to middle school together before moving on to Cerritos High. They remained on the same softball rosters throughout, but the chances of continuing their connection after graduation seemed remote. “My dad would tell me, ‘Don’t think you guys are […]

Brittnee Rossi’s first two collegiate home runs required 240-foot sprints. Her third sailed nearly that far to give the Hawaii freshman the first walk-off homer of her softball career. After the Rainbow Wahine fell behind early against Cleveland State on Thursday, Rossi got UH on the board by circling the bases for her second inside-the-park home run of the season. With the Wahine still down two in the bottom of the seventh, she came up with one out and two […]

Dana Thomsen previously handled the type of work load she carried for the Rainbow Wahine softball team last week … but it’s been a while. “I haven’t pitched this much since I was like 14-and-under in tournament ball,” the senior right-hander said. Prior to last week’s Outrigger Resorts Hawaii Spring Fling Tournament, Thomsen said coach Bob Coolen “came up to me and he was like, ‘are you ready to be pitching a lot? And I was, ‘of course.’” An injury to […]

Bob Coolen preaches weighing both ends of the student-athlete designation equally and March annually tests the Hawaii softball team’s ability to even the scales. The Rainbow Wahine are in the midst of playing 18 games in 19 days and Coolen noted the team’s balance coming out of a five-day run of games last weekend. “Day in, day out they have to got to school then they have to get ready to compete. … You’re really pushing them to really be […]

Aside from some last-minute details to check off, the renovated Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium is ready for its official debut. The Rainbow Wahine broke in the new field with an exhibition on Feb. 11 before embarking on a nearly two-week road trip. They returned to Manoa at 6-6 and open their first homestand on the turf by taking on No. 15 California on Wednesday. “Now watching the other teams come in and having a whole slate of games the next […]

The Hawaii softball team’s week in Las Vegas couldn’t have started much worse. But the Rainbow Wahine managed to turn fortune in their favor and left town on Tuesday riding a hot streak. UH’s first season-opening road trip since 2002 began with a blowout loss to BYU on Feb. 15. The Wahine then blew a 2-0 lead in a 4-2 loss to Seattle in the first game of a doubleheader last Friday. “The first two games were really frustrating because […]

Some of the kinks inherent in a major renovation were still being worked out on Friday, but the University of Hawaii softball team remained eager for Sunday’s soft opening of its revamped ballpark. UH will christen Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium’s new playing surface with an exhibition doubleheader with Josai University of Tokyo starting at 1 p.m. Along with the opportunity to show off some of RWSS’s new features, the doubleheader will serve as a dress rehearsal for the Wahine before […]