As Bob Coolen's final season as the University of Hawai‘i softball coach got underway last week, he knew it was just the start of a spring that will feature a slew of firsts and lasts in the coming months.
"Everyone keeps reminding me, 'This is your last of the last of this.' Coaches have been coming up to me, opponent coaches, 'You're retiring. This is the last time I'm going to see you.' And so everyone's been reminding me," Coolen said. "My wife reminds me all the time as she throws out the ball to the umpires, this is the last of the last. I go, 'I get it,' and she goes, 'Enjoy the journey.' And I am."
On the field, the Rainbow Wahine had a promising start to their 2025 campaign, going 4-1 at the Bank of Hawai‘i Paradise Classic.
Coolen said the big question facing his team was the inexperience in his lineup. Over the five games, the new-look 'Bows were led by a trio of local transfers in Carys Murakami, Milan Ah Yat and Liliana Thomas.
Murakami and Thomas were teammates at Maryknoll, while Ah Yat (Pac-Five) and Thomas were both previously at Loyola Marymount before coming home. Meanwhile, Murakami spent her first two collegiate seasons at Cal State Northridge, an annual conference opponent for UH. The trio combined for 13 hits over the weekend in wins over Santa Clara, Saint Louis and Southern Indiana.
The 'Bows closed out the weekend with a 3-0 loss to Santa Clara on Saturday, but Coolen said "I was very pleased with the weekend. We haven't started this way in a while, so I was very pleased."
Added Murakami: "I think we're starting to gel together. And as you can see this weekend, we just wanted to compete and come out and do our best. I think that overall, we had a really good weekend, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for us and what we can do in conference."
The Rainbow Wahine will host another five-game, round-robin event this week with the Spring Fling Tournament set to take place at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. From Thursday to Saturday, UH will take on Western Illinois, Sacramento State, Cal State Bakersfield and Utah Tech twice.
In the pitching circle, Coolen expected strong performances from returning ace pitcher Addison Kostrencich and junior college transfer Macy Brandi and got them. Brandi in particular went 2-0 with a 1.79 ERA, striking out 13 while walking just five in 15.2 innings of work.
Of being a newcomer in Coolen's last year, Brandi, a sophomore, said "seeing all the culture here and looking at past years and seeing all the amazing players that have played for this program and knowing that I'm one of his last is very emotional, but I'm excited to see what we can do for his last year."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
