Keohohou Can’t Miss No Matter the Pitch

Oli Keohohou of Newbury Park High has never seen a pitch she didn’t like.

“Her only fault is that there isn’t a pitch she doesn’t think she can hit,� Newbury Park Coach Pete Ackermann said. “Discipline is the one attribute she needs to put in her repertoire.�

Yet considering her extraordinary success at the plate, swinging at bad pitches certainly hasn’t appeared to slow her down.

Ripping her 10th triple this season against Westlake in her next-to-last game, Keohohou set one Southern Section record and tied another. In two years, the sophomore first baseman set a section record with 19 career triples and tied the record for season triples.

At the rate Keohohou is hitting, she will own the Southern Section record book.

Keohohou, arguably the region’s finest slugger whose team did not qualify for the playoffs, had 47 hits this season and 24 went for extra bases.

She has quick hands, a compact swing and packs a powerful punch. Against Camarillo in the final game this season, Keohohou hit a 230-foot home run off Cindy Ball and became the first Panther to hit a ball over the fence at Borchard Park in Newbury Park, Ackermann said.

And to think she still has two years remaining at the high school level.

“What set Oli apart is she was doing the little things right early,� said Ackermann, who first coached Keohohou at age 9 in Newbury Park Bobby Sox.

“She’s a student of the whole game. She thrives on any learning edge she can get.�

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

1997

At Bats: 81

Triples: 9

Home Runs: 0

RBIs: 23

Average: .420

*

1998

At Bats: 91

Triples: 10

Home Runs: 6

RBIs: 24

Average: .516