HONOLULU — An infusion of portal power helped the Hawaii softball team to its best five-game start in nearly a decade.
UH, which has been bitten by portal defections in recent years, appears to have flipped the narrative about one of the most notable changes in the sport alongside Name, Image and Likeness rights.
Four of the five transfer players brought in by coach Bob Coolen through the portal started all five games in last weekend’s Bank of Hawaii Paradise Classic.
“The portal kids are, if we didn’t have them, I have no idea where it would be right now,” Coolen said of Division I transfers Carys Murakami, Milan Ah Yat and Liliana Thomas. “Because we looked at our other players … and it didn’t work out, and the portal players have come right in and haven’t skipped a beat.”
UH won its first four before falling 3-0 to Santa Clara’s ace in the tournament championship on Saturday night. The 4-1 start is UH’s best since 2016.
The Wahine open their second event, the Spring Fling Tournament, against Western Illinois (2-2) at 6 p.m. Thursday. Utah Tech, Sacramento State and Big West foe Cal State Bakersfield are also in the field.
Replacing the infield was the top order of business in the offseason for Coolen with the graduations of Dallas Millwood, Maya Nakamura, Xiao Gin and Ka‘ena Keliinoi.
So far, at least, the handoff to a new generation has been smooth.
Hawaii natives Murakami (Maryknoll, CSUN), Ah Yat (University Lab/Pac-Five, Loyola Marymount) and Thomas (Maryknoll, LMU) started all five games at second base, shortstop and third base, respectively.
“It was really nice having Milan and Lil join me as well, because we’ve talked before, and we all just came in together,” Murakami said this week. “So that was nice, knowing local girls beforehand, and we all just wanted to come here and make it better.”
Hawaii shortstop Milan Ah Yat, left, drew a walk to first base and stood next to assistant coach Kaulana Gould against Santa Clara on Thursday night. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Murakami hit .364 in the opening tournament with a team-high five runs scored while batting seventh in the order. Ah Yat, the daughter of former UH baseball pitcher Paul Ah Yat, went .333 with two doubles and a team-best three walks batting sixth. And Thomas batted .294 with a home run and a team-high five hits from the No. 3 spot.
“Lil Thomas, she came in and established herself as a hitter, a home run hitter, and Milan and Carys were consistent,” Coolen said.
Murakami, a Kaneohe native who won a Division I state championship with Maryknoll at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium in 2022, said transferring home to play at RWSS full-time was “a dream.” A big part of the motivation was allowing her grandparents to see her play.
She has perhaps the biggest shoes to fill of any of the newcomers at second as All-Big West first-teamer Maya Nakamura finished her college career.
“I’ve definitely looked up to Maya, and we’ve talked before, just to learn the game from her and watch the game through her eyes was really cool,” Murakami said. “It’s definitely big shoes to fill … Maya Nakamura is Maya Nakamura, and she will always be Maya Nakamura.”
The early returns were also good on junior college transfer Macy Brandl, who fired complete games against Saint Louis and Southern Indiana and posted an earned-run average of 1.79.
Ace Addison Kostrencich went 2-1 with a 1.19 ERA.
Of course, the portal still takes even as it gives. Key-annah Campbell-Pua, UH’s former No. 2 pitcher who tossed a no-hitter in 2023, ended up at Fresno State. In addition, there was a notable non-portal loss in infielder Madixx Muramoto, the granddaughter of Les Murakami who left the team prior to the spring semester.
The Wahine face Utah Tech at 6 p.m. Friday, Sacramento State at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Cal State Bakersfield (noon) and Utah Tech (2:30 p.m.) on Sunday.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
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