Moanalua High School softball coach Kris Morikawa fought the brutal Friday afternoon traffic and parking nightmare at Kamamalu Field to scout last week's Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship game between 'Iolani and St. Francis.

"I knew I was there for a reason," said Morikawa, in her first season at the Moanalua helm. "I had a feeling I should be there."

Her instincts proved correct, as the Data House/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Division I State Championships pairings were released two days later with her squad facing 'Iolani in Wednesday's first-round feature game.

First pitch is set for 8 p.m. at the University of Hawai'i's Rainbow Wahine Stadium.

There are three other first-round games at 2, 4 and 6, but the one between 'Iolani (11-4) and Na Menehune (12-3) clearly stands out as a semifinal or even championship-type matchup.

The Raiders finished second in the ILH after losing to St. Francis, 4-3, in nine innings and Moanalua took fourth in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association after winning the league's Eastern Division for the first time.

"It's a tough draw for us," 'Iolani coach Chris Shimabukuro said, "but any team right now will be tough to play."

Maybe so, but not every team has a starting pitcher who has put up the kind of numbers Na Menehune's Sarah Robinson did this season. In 11 regular season games, Robinson went 10-1, with a 0.47 earned run average and 76 strikeouts in 74 innings.

She began the OIA tournament with a 6-1 quarterfinal victory over Waipahu, but ran into trouble in the semifinals as Mililani got nine hits off her in a 6-3 upset. Robinson then got hit hard again the next night in an 8-3 loss to Kailua for third place.

"Not just Sarah, but our whole team was real beat up by then and the feeling was, 'Let's just get this over with and move on,' " Morikawa said. "All everybody needed was to not come to the field for a couple days and just heal up. So they came back to practice on Tuesday (Jan. 23), and they were fine."

Moanalua also can take inspiration from the fact that last year's OIA fourth-place team, Mililani, ended up beating ILH runner-up St. Francis in the state tournament first round and eventually advanced to the championship game.

But it won't be easy to duplicate that feat, especially against an 'Iolani team that has shown resilience throughout the season.

The Raiders went through an ILH roller-coaster ride that had peaks (victories over St. Francis and Kamehameha) and valleys (losses to Punahou and Mid-Pacific). But they came through with their backs against the wall, finishing the regular season with must-wins against Kamehameha, St. Francis, Maryknoll and Sacred Hearts to force the winner-take-all title game against St. Francis.

Even in that game, 'Iolani was down 3-1 until capitalizing on an error to score two runs and tie it in the sixth inning.

"I've never been so proud of a team," said Shimabukuro, in his ninth year as the Raiders' head coach. "They could have given up, but they never did."

'Iolani is not blessed with a lot of size or power, but the Raiders are disciplined at the plate and apply pressure on defenses with opportunistic base running and squeeze plays.

"Their toughness and their scrappy style reminds me of (OIA champion) Mililani," Morikawa said. "Those are the kind of teams that are most dangerous to play."

But Morikawa also agreed with Shimabukuro's assessment.

"In this tournament, none of the teams are easy," she said.

DATAHOUSE/HHSAA STATE SOFTBALL

DIVISION I

(All games at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium)

WEDNESDAY

FIRST ROUND

Game 1 — Kapolei (11-5) vs. Lahainaluna (12-2), 2 p.m.

Game 2 — Campbell (13-2) vs. Hilo (9-3), 4 p.m.

Game 3 — Kailua (11-4) vs. Waipahu (7-9), 6 p.m.

Game 4 — 'Iolani (11-4) vs. Moanalua (12-3), 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

CONSOLATION

Game 5 — Kailua-Waipahu loser vs. 'Iolani-Moanalua loser, 10 a.m.

Game 6 — Kapolei-Lahainaluna loser vs. Campbell-Hilo loser, noon

QUARTERFINALS

Game 7 — No. 4 Waiakea (11-1) vs. 'Iolani-Moanalua winner, 2 p.m.

Game 8 — No. 3 Baldwin (14-0) vs. Campbell-Hilo winner, 4 p.m.

Game 9 — No. 2 St. Francis (12-3) vs. Kailua-Waipahu winner, 6 p.m.

Game 10 — No. 1 Mililani (13-2) vs. Kapolei-Lahainaluna winner, 8 p.m.

FRIDAY

CONSOLATION

Game 11 - Loser Game 10 vs. Loser Game 7, 10 a.m.

Game 12 - Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 8, noon

SEMIFINALS

Game 13* - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 8, 6 p.m.

Game 14* - Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 7, 8 p.m.

SATURDAY

Consolation - Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 5, noon

Fifth place - Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 2 p.m.

Third place - Loser Game 14 vs. Loser Game 13, 4 p.m.

Championship* - Winner Game 14 vs. Winner Game 13, 8 p.m.

* Live on OC-16

DIVISION II

WEDNESDAY

(AT CENTRAL O'AHU REGIONAL PARK)

FIRST ROUND

Game 1 - Lana'i (3-11) vs. McKinley (10-4), 5 p.m. (Field 1)

Game 2 - Moloka'i (6-8) vs. Farrington (10-4), 5 p.m. (Field 2)

Game 3 - Pahoa (5-6) vs. Kaiser (3-11), 7 p.m. (Field 1)

Game 4 - Maryknoll (5-10) vs. Kohala (9-3), 7 p.m. (Field 2)

THURSDAY

(AT CENTRAL O'AHU REGIONAL PARK)

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Game 5 - Lana'i-McK. loser vs. Moloka'i-Farr. loser, 5 p.m. (Field 1)

Game 6 - Pahoa-Kaiser loser vs. Maryknoll-Kohala loser, 5 p.m. (Field 2)

QUARTERFINALS

Game 7 - No. 1 Sacred Hearts (6-8) vs. Lana'i-McK. winner, 5 p.m. (Field 3)

Game 8 - No. 4 KS-Hawai'i (9-3) vs. Molo.-Farr. winner, 7 p.m. (Field 1)

Game 9 - No. 2 Kaua'i (7-6) vs. Pahoa-Kaiser winner, 7 p.m. (Field 2)

Game 10 - No. 3 Kahuku (12-1) vs. Maryknoll-Kohala winner, 7 p.m. (Field 3)

FRIDAY

(AT CENTRAL O'AHU REGIONAL PARK)

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Game 11 - Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 5 p.m. (Field No. 1)

Game 12 - Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10, 5 p.m. (Field No. 2)

Consolation title - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7 p.m. (Field 1)

Fifth place game - Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 7 p.m. (Field 2)

(AT RAINBOW WAHINE SOFTBALL STADIUM)

SEMIFINALS

Game 13 - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 2 p.m.

Game 14 - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 4 p.m.

SATURDAY

(AT RAINBOW WAHINE SOFTBALL STADIUM)

Third place - Loser Game 13 vs. Loser Game 14, 10 a.m.

Championship* - Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 6 p.m.

* Live on OC-16

Note: Admission at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium is $7 adults; $5 ages

62-older and students K through 12. Parking is $3.

No admission charge at Central O'ahu Regional Park

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.