The relaxed air that prevails throughout the Waipahu baseball program this summer is definitely by design.<\/p>\n
“We want to win, but we also want to make it a fun summer for the kids,” longtime head coach Milton Takenaka said. “The kids are all coming off of an intense spring season, so it hasn’t been a matter of having to win. We just wanted to get into the (post-season) tournament, and then it will be all business.”<\/p>\n
The Marauders were 13-4 in American Legion League play (19-and-under division) as of late last week, with two games left in the season. The playoffs begin July 16. Waipahu is the defending Hawaii American Legion League state champion after a strong run at this time last year. It also captured the Division II state title during the spring season in May, but have a different look to their lineup, as a handful of players from nearby Pearl City and Moanalua also are in the fold for the summer.<\/p>\n
Recent Waipahu graduates Dylan Sugimoto, Drake Yoshioka and Jarinn Abreu are all back, after being huge contributors in the spring.<\/p>\n
“They’re doing well – it’s a little less tense for them than their spring season,” Takenaka said. “Dylan has pitched a lot, but we haven’t needed to pitch Jarinn since we have a lot of arms.”<\/p>\n
Also logging big innings this summer are Sumi Pruett, Kai Kealoha and Isaac Shim (all Pearl City 2011); Bryson Yasui and Austyn Nagamine (Moanalua 2012); and Bronson Shim (Moanalua 2011).<\/p>\n
Takenaka labeled pitching as Waipahu’s strength this summer.<\/p>\n
“We really haven’t hit the ball that well yet, but the kids who have been pitching have been doing well,” he said.<\/p>\n
Waipahu found itself in a similar position a year ago, as pitching carried the team into the playoffs before they peaked, offensively, en route to capturing the state tournament.<\/p>\n
Waipahu’s 13-4 record placed them fourth in the ALL standings as of late last week, behind Mid-Pacific, Kamehameha and Castle. Campbell and Kalani also have been playing their best baseball of late and could be factors in the post-season.<\/p>\n
“There are a lot of good teams, but I think we have a good chance with the kids we have,” Takenaka said.<\/p>\n
“Mid-Pac and Kamehameha are always there, and Iolani has been playing well, too. It should be a good tournament.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The relaxed air that prevails throughout the Waipahu baseball program this summer is definitely by design. “We want to win,..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-west","category-west-oahu-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n