Thanatharn, Irimata get top Big West honors

First-year coach Panita Thanatharn and sophomore pitcher Taryn Irimata were among the top honorees Tuesday when the All-Big West Conference softball teams were announced, with six other Rainbow Wahine receiving recognition as well in UH’s final season in the conference.

Thanatharn shared Coach of the Year honors with Cal State Fullerton’s Gina Oaks Garcia. The Titans (37-13, 24-3 Big West) won the Big West regular-season title and UH (29-18, 21-6) finished second, with both receiving byes in the conference tournament, which opens play today.

Irimata, a Campbell High graduate who transferred from Nevada, was voted Big West Pitcher of the Year by the league’s 10 head coaches

Junior shortstop Milan Ah Yat, senior first basebman/pitcher Millie Fidge and junior corner infielder Jamie McGaughey joined Irimata on the BWC first team. Senior pitcher Hannah Pitts and sophomore left fielder Kayara Tuiloma landed on the second team. Briana Maio-Silva was selected to the All-Freshman Team.

The seven honorees is the most for the Rainbow Wahine since 2017.

Irimata led the league with a 2.21 earned-run average, including 1.60 ERA in conference games. She went the distance 13 times, including five games in which she held the Rainbow Wahine’s opponent scoreless. She closed strong, with wins in her last six starts — four of them shutouts — to end the season 12-7 overall and 10-2 in the Big West.

McGaughey batted .403 with 12 doubles, 12 home runs and 42 RBIs to move up from second-team honors last year. She started all 47 games, splitting her time between first base and third base.

Ah Yat started all 47 games at shortstop, batting .293 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs.

Fidge hit .400 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs in 24 starts on offense. She led the team with a .788 slugging percentage. She posted a 4.52 ERA over 212⁄3 innings in the circle.

Pitts, a transfer from Mercer, had an 11-4 record and a 2.65 ERA, including 8-1 with a 2.21 ERA in Big West play. Tuiloma batted .342 with 15 RBIs overall and hit .429 in the Big West. Maio-Silva hit .314 with three home runs and 10 RBIs playing primarily at second base.

UH Hilo loses in PWC tournament opener

Second-seeded Biola answered third-seeded Hawaii Hilo’s rally with one of its own Tuesday to win 7-6 in the teams’ opener at the PacWest Softball Championships at Freedom Field in La Mirada, Calif.

After the Vulcans trailed 4-1 through three innings, UHH plated five runs in the top of the fourth, going ahead on outfielder Lexie Hilton’s RBI single and ending the inning with a 6-4 lead.

The Vulcans kept that lead going to the bottom of the sixth, but the Eagles put together three runs — two of them unearned after a UHH error — going ahead for good on PacWest Player of the Year Kendall Nakano’s RBI groundout.

UHH falls to the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will face fourth seed Jessup today.