Kala Ka’aihue: CAR Player of the Week, Again
UPDATE: After receiving his second Player of the Week award, Kala was promoted to the Double-A Mississippi Braves on July 25th.
For the second time this season, Kala Ka’aihue ‘03 has been named the Carolina League Player of the Week for his hot hitting as a member of the High-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. During the one week stretch Kala was 12-28 (.429) with 3 home runs, 9 RBI and a slugging percentage of .859. His most impressive performance came on July 22 when he went 2 for 2 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI in a 3-0 win over Winston-Salem.
Considered a candidate for league MVP honors, Kala recently ended a season high 12-game hitting streak and 32-game on-base streak when he went 0-4 yesterday in a 7-1 win over Frederick. To date, Kala leads the Carolina League with 22 home runs and is one long ball away from tying the team’s single-season home run record of 23 set in 1999. He’s also third in the league with 61 RBI and just 20 RBI shy of breaking the club’s single-season RBI mark of 81 set by Matt Esquivel and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (currently playing in the Majors for the Atlanta Braves) in 2005.
More Hot Hitting: Kala’s older brother, Kila ‘02 is also having a strong season of his own. Having already been promoted midseason to Double-A Wichita, Kila is batting .252 with 4 home runs and 13 RBI which includes a 3 for 5 performance on July 22nd where he hit two solo home runs in a 8-1 win over Springfield.