Iolani Alumni

Kala Ka’aihue ‘03, a power-hitting first baseman for the Honolulu Sharks, is hoping for a strong finish by his team as they close out the 2008 Hawaii Winter Baseball season with two games against the Waikiki Beachboys. The Sharks are a half game behind the Beachboys and need two wins to earn a spot in the championship game against the West Oahu Canefires who have already clinched their division.

On the season, Ka’aihue leads the team in home runs (4) and RBI (14) and is also third on the team in walks (12).

Four Iolani seniors will be playing at the college level next season after making commitments to compete at Division I universities yesterday, the first day of the early signing period.

From Iolani.org: “David Fink signed a National Letter of Intent to play golf at Oregon State. Chelsea Hardin signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Maile Scarpino also made a verbal commitment to continue her academic career and volleyball career at Hofstra University in New York.”

Two-sport standout, Breland Almadova verbally committed to play baseball at the University of Hawaii. The 6-1, 180 pound outfielder was an Advertiser All-State honorable mention selection last season. His father Brian played football at UH from 1980 to 1982.

[Photos: Iolani.org & Honolulu Advertiser]

Atlanta Braves prospect Kala Ka’aihue ‘03 hit two home runs for the Honolulu Sharks in a 6-3 win yesterday afternoon over the North Shore Honu. He is currently tied for the league lead in homers with three and is third in slugging percentage (.643).

On the season, Ka’aihue is batting .286 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI in 9 games for the Sharks who are 10-3 and have the best record in the Hawaii Winter League.

[Photo: HawaiiWinterBaseball.com]

Kila Ka’aihue ‘02 hit his first major league home run on Saturday evening in the bottom of the 7th inning against the Chicago White Sox (who are attempting to clinch a playoff spot). Watch the video »

In the majors, Ka’aihue has appeared in 10 games for the Royals and is batting .278 (5-18). Kansas City is out of the playoff hunt and has five games remaining this season.

Not to be outdone by his older brother Kila who was called up to the Majors just over two weeks ago, Kala Ka’aihue ‘03 was named the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs after helping his team capture the Southern League Championship.

Ka’aihue, a first baseman for the Mississippi Braves (AA), batted .429 in the championship series to go along with three home runs and six RBI in five games against the Carolina Mudcats.

On the season, Ka’aihue got off to slow start (batting just .184 in April) but finished hitting .274 with 23 doubles, 2 triples, 14 home runs and 61 RBI.

According to the Honolulu Advertiser, he is hoping to play winter baseball in either the Dominican Republic or Venezuela, but could also end up back home with the Honolulu Sharks of Hawaii Winter Baseball League, which opens Sept. 27.

[Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

Derrick Low ‘04, a 6-1 guard for the Sydney Spirit, scored 13 points in a 112-102 loss to the Melbourne Tigers to open the 2008-09 NBL season. The Tigers are considered to be among the top teams in the league and expected to contend for a title.

Stat Line: 6-20 (30%) from the field, 0-5 from three, 1-4 from the freethrow line, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers

The Spirit play their next game on Saturday, September 20th against the Wollongong Hawks.

Read an article about Low from the Sydney Morning Herald »

- - -

In his third appearance as a pinch hitter for the Kansas City Royals, Kila Ka’aihue ‘02 recorded his 3rd hit of the season and raised his major league batting average to .429 (3-7).

Since receiving the call, Ka’aihue has seen limited time on the field and at the plate, sharing at-bats with the team’s three other first baseman. Thus far, he has started just one game (going 1-4) and has appeared in three games as a pinch hitter, striking out once and batting 1-1 in each of his other two opportunities.

Watch video of Ka’aihue’s first major league hit »

Event Date: Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union will host a fundraiser at its Hawaii Kai to help the Waipio Little League World Champions raise money for Paliku Winchester, the son of Kanoe and Rena (Duque) Winchester ‘89.

Paliku, younger brother of Waipio’s third baseman Pikai Winchester, was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer in February 2008.

Aloha Pacific will be accepting cash and check donations from now through Saturday, Sept. 6 at all five branches. Checks may be made payable to Paliku Winchester.

Saturday’s on-site event will feature players from the championship Waipio baseball team. Attendance has been confirmed by the following players: Iolana Akau, Caleb Duhay, Kainoa Fong, Tanner Tokunaga and Pikai Winchester. The players will sign autographs for donation.

A specially priced lunch combo will also be sold for a donation of $3. The lunch combo includes a hot dog, drink and chips. The Hawaii Kai branch will also conduct games for keiki and an enter-to-win contest for adults. Free balloons will be given to keiki, while supplies last.

What: Fundraiser for Paliku Winchester
When: Saturday, September 6th, 10am - Noon
Where: Koko Marina Shopping Center

This fundraiser was created to help offset the increasing cost of Paliku’s medical bills. Five-year-old Paliku is undergoing chemotherapy for his cancer and is expected to need medical treatments for the next two years.

[Words and Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

Not long after hitting the game-winning home run in extra innings for the Omaha Royals (AAA) on Sunday afternoon, Kila Ka’aihue ‘02 got “the call” to join the Royals major league club on Tuesday after the completion of the AAA season.

As icing on the cake, Ka’aihue knocked in his 100th RBI of the season today after going 2-4 and raising his batting average in AAA to .316. On the season (including AA), he batted a combined .314 with 37 home runs and 104 walks (to just 67 strikeouts). He had an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) over 1.0 and was named the AA Texas League Player-of-the-Year.

Ka’aihue is the first player from Iolani to be on a major league roster since former pitcher Mike Fetters ‘83, who retired in 2005 after 16 years in the league.

[Photo: Shawn E. Davis/MLB.com]

After getting off to a slow start, Keoni DeRenne ‘97 has been swinging a hot bat as of late for the York Revolution of the Independent League.

Though his last 11 games, DeRenne has batted 18-39 (.461) during which time his team has gone 8-3 and moved into first place in the Freedom Division of the Atlantic League.

On the season, he is batting .256 with 42 walks and just 31 strikeouts.

[Photo: York Blog]

On the Air - This Weekend:
• Friday, August 22nd - Iolani @ Leilehua (Football) - 7:30pm (OC16)
• Saturday, August 23rd - LLWS: US Championship - Waipahu vs. Louisiana - 9:30am HST (ABC)

Pikai Winchester, the eldest son of Kanoe and Rena Winchester ‘89, has been swinging a hot bat for Waipahu at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Through three games in pool play, Winchester, the starting third baseman, is a combined 5-8 (.625) with 5 RBI, which includes two doubles and a home run.

This is just a week after he went 2-2 with two home runs and 3 RBI in the team’s 4-3 win over Paseo Verde (Nevada) in the West Region Championship to clinch their berth to the World Series.

Waipahu finished pool play at 3-0 and has advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday, August 20th at 2:00pm HST. The game will be televised live on ESPN.

Two games in… two home runs. Kila Ka’aihue ‘02, who was promoted just three days ago to AAA Omaha, is continuing right where he left off.

The former Northwest Arkansas slugger went deep in back-to-back games for the Royals, batting 4-9 with 5 RBI.

While with in AA, Ka’aihue led the league in home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and walks. His current home run total between the two leagues is 28.

[Photo: BlueRocks.com]

Northwest Arkansas first baseman Kila Ka’aihue ‘02, one of the top hitters in the AA Texas League, was promoted yesterday to the Omaha Royals of the Pacific Coast League, the AAA-affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

At the time of promotion, Ka’aihue was batting a season-high .314 and leading the league in home runs (26), on-base percentage (.463), slugging percentage (.624) and walks (80). He was among the most popular players on the Northwest Arkansas roster and was named to the starting roster in the Texas League Mid-Season All-Star Game earlier this year.

[Photo: Northwest Arkansas]

Kyle Ahlo ‘08, a Second Team All-State and First Team All-ILH selection last season, and her high school teammate, Kaz Masutani ‘07, a three-time First Team All-ILH selection and First Team All-State selection in 2007, well be headed to Loyola Marymount University in the fall to join the women’s softball team.

Ahlo was a two-sport athlete at Iolani, competing in basketball and softball. She was the 2008 recipient of the “I” Club Award. Masutani, the 2007 Father Bray Award winner, spent a year at Oregon State following graduation, but did not play, giving her four years of eligibility at LMU.

[Photos: Al Linsky @ Iolani-Events.org]

Kila Ka’aihue ‘02 continued his hot hitting yesterday with a 4-5 performance against the Corpus Christi Hooks with two home runs and six RBI. The 6-3 first baseman hit a two-run homer in the first and returned with a grand slam in the fifth - his league-leading 22nd home run of the season.

Through his last 9 games, Ka’aihue is batting .471 (16-for-34) with five home runs and 11 RBIs and has raised his season average to .305.

[Photo: Northwest Arkansas]

Joshua Miyazawa, son of Jeff ‘87 and Jonie Miyazawa, is headed to Washington D.C. next week to play in a just-for-fun tee-ball game on the South Lawn of the White House.

He was selected for the game based on the recommendation of his coach Sarie (Okimoto) Uechi ‘86, who submitted an application on his behalf and wrote a 300-word essay describing Joshua’s incredible story.

Just six weeks ago, the energetic 5-year old underwent open-heart surgery to repair a small hole in the upper chambers of his heart. Now, proudly sporting a 5-inch scar that runs the length of his breast bone, Joshua is back on the field and more than ready to make the trip to the nation’s capital.

During his days at Iolani, Jeff Miyazawa was a standout second baseman for the Raiders during their state title run in 1986. Currently, he runs his own dental practice in Kaneohe and, in his spare time, serves as an assistant coach for the the Iolani Baseball team.

Read the entire story from the Honolulu Advertiser »

[Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

Special Note: In the photo, Joshua and Jeff are sporting gear from Hawaiian Hardball which is owned and operated by classmate and former teammate Jason Arakaki ‘87.