Kamehameha looks to claim 5th state baseball title

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - High school baseball teams are making their way to Maui this week for the state tournament.

One of the front runners in the Division I this year is Kamehameha Schools Kapalama, and they are on a mission.

The Warriors set the pace in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Playoffs going 15-2 this season, including a win against Iolani last week to capture a third straight league title.

“It answered a lot of questions for us,” said pitcher Kaikai Kaneshiro. “I think going into the year, there’s a lot of speculation on whether our offense would be as complete as last year and whether a bunch of seniors who didn’t get their chance to play last year would kind of fell into the roles, and for us, that’s been the story all year.”

The new-look Warriors have the makings of a complete team with four double-digit run wins and four shutouts.

Head coach Daryl Kitagawa says it’s a simple formula.

“Staying in the moment, playing one pitch at a time, the old cliche, not getting ahead of ourselves and understanding what your job is,” he said.

One piece of Kamehameha’s puzzle this year has been their bullpen.

In total, the Warriors have used 15 pitchers this year, but their go-to players have been a three-headed monster on the mound in University of Nevada, Reno commits Kaikai Kaneshiro and Greyson Osbun along with University of California, Los Angeles commit Elai Iwanaga.

“I think just pitching with the extra confidence knowing that my coaches and my teammates all trust myself and the rest of the pitching staff, it’s definitely huge,” Kaneshiro said. “Taking the mound last year and sophomore year compared to this year has just been different.”

“One canoe like we all need to work together,” Iwanaga said. “It’s not going to take one man, it’s gonna take the whole team. So just like picking each other up after a bad game and having each other’s backs at all times is really what we’ve been doing.”

Fresh off of their third straight ILH crown, Kamehameha goes into the state tournament as the top seed, a position the Warriors don’t take lightly.

Last year, they entered the tournament as the number-one seed, but were eliminated by Baldwin in the semifinals, a feeling that still lingers with the team.

“I was on that mound,” said pitcher Greyson Osbun said. “I had a lot of control in that game, and it was a big reason why we didn’t come out on top. I felt like I could have done a lot better.”

They’re hoping that feeling of defeat can help bring them a fifth state championship, which would be their second in the last three years.

“That it’s going to take some hard work, good play from us, and for us to catch a break here and there too. The best team does not always win in baseball,” Coach Kitagawa said.

“I think just cementing a legacy as a cost of 2025,” Osbun said. ”And just a special group of, I think it’s 17 of us, so to me, this means more than any other accomplishment or award.”

Kamehameha Kapalama begins play on Thursday.

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