Making history

Jenna Rodriguez has begun authoring a new chapter in Hawaii softball history.

With a runner on and the Wahine trailing No. 1 seed Alabama, 4-3, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Rodriguez took a pitch on the inner half of the plate from Bama ace Kelsi Dunne and drove it high over the left field wall, just inside the foul pole, to send Hawaii to its first ever Women’s College World Series.

With the ball drifting dangerously close to being nothing more than a long strike, Rodriguez watched and yelled at the ball from home plate till it crossed the wall fair. It was the kind of image that earns even a seldom-covered sport the honor of being SportsCenter’s fifth best play of the month.

It should be no surprise that Rodriguez would lead the Wahine charge to the grandest national stage of softball. After all, the junior college transfer has championship experience, leading Yavapai College to the national junior college title in 2009.

Still, it is a surprise that the 16th-seeded Wahine are extending their season-closing road trip to Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. No previous overall 1 seed had missed the World Series since the implementation of the Super Regional format, and Alabama, the tourney’s top seed, had won 28 straight games, many of them in the powerful SEC, before the Wahine snapped that streak with a 3-homer performance off Charlotte Morgan Saturday afternoon. Sunday, the Tide rolled out ace and 30-game winner Kelsi Dunne in the circle. And Dunne was demonstrating why she is one of the best pitchers in the country, striking out 16 Wahine on the afternoon, including Jessica Iwata and Melissa Gonzalez for the first two outs of the seventh.

But Dunne had already made a mistake, walking Kelly Majam to lead off the inning, putting the tying run on base and forcing herself to face one more batter. And that batter would be Rodriguez, who launched the first pitch from Dunne, leaving the Tide and their fans in disbelief as they watched their hopes for a national title soar away into the Alabama afternoon.

Dunne should have known it’d be prudent not to give Rodriguez an extra at-bat. J-Rod opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a 3-run homer off Dunne following a Majam leadoff single and a Gonzalez walk.

Protecting the 3-0 lead was the responsibility of Wahine No. 2 starter Kaia Parnaby, who at first glance was a surprise pick to pitch the deciding game of the Super Regional against Dunne. But staff ace Steph Ricketts, battling flu-like symptoms, struggled in game one Saturday, and the lefty Parnaby presented a different look to the Bama batters. More of a fly ball pitcher than Ricketts, Parnaby got the speedy Tide tablesetters to fly out several times, and her curve she threw at lefties froze them as they watched it cross the plate on the inside corner for a strike. Parnaby, who sometimes struggles with getting behind on hitters, was also aided by a home plate umpire with a generous strike zone, and save a Morgan solo homer, made fairly easy work of the Bama bats through five.

Things would change in the sixth. Bama’s speedster at the top of the lineup, Kayla Braud, led off the inning with an infield single. After a fielder’s choice eliminated Braud, Morgan returned to the plate, and Parnaby pitched her extra carefully, eventually walking her. Then with two runners on, Whitney Larsen put an excuse me swing on a Parnaby pitch that sent it over the wall in left center to give the Tide the 4-3 lead.

With the Tide taking the late lead and Dunne virtually untouchable in the circle, momentum was certainly in favor of a Bama trip to the series. But it was key that the Wahine pitching staff hold the Tide right where they were, and after Parnaby surrendered a 2-out double later in the sixth, the call went down to the bullpen for a rested Ricketts, who retired the four hitters she faced in order.

Which set the scene for a dream finish in the bottom of the seventh. Though they were guests in Bama’s stadium, a coin flip named the Rainbow Wahine the home team for the decisive game, giving the ‘Bows’ one last chance to hit. And to the plate they sent the most frightening part of their powerful lineup, the top of the order, all with batting averages hovering around .400 and 15+ home runs on the season.

Though she’s leading the nation with 30 home runs, Majam patiently worked a walk out of Dunne to set up the potential walkoff opportunity. But things did not look good as Iwata could not lay off the tough Dunne riser for her fourth strikeout of the day. Then Gonzalez twisted away from a pitch that looked to be off the inside corner but was called strike three.

Which brought Rodriguez to the plate in a situation you fantasize about when growing up, playing ball in the backyard. Down one, one on, two outs, World Series berth on the line. And with one mighty swing of her bat, Jenna ensured the final chapter of the Wahine’s historic season would be set in Oklahoma City.