ILH baseball is a Hawaii’s hotbed for recruiting talent

With the ILH second-round baseball tournament underway, four of the seven teams in Division I will see their season end this week.

For a lot of these kids, however, there is much more baseball to play.

More than 35 seniors in the league will go on to play at a higher level next season, including 13 in Division I.

Four underclassmen have already made college commitments, while quite a few more hold at least one Division I scholarship offer.

The ILH being a hotbed of baseball talent is nothing new. Notable first-round MLB draft picks include Justin Wayne of Punahou in 2000, David Masters and Mike Fetters of ‘Iolani in the 1980s and Kamehameha shortstop Bronson Sardinha in 2001.

While the league might not necessarily be as top-heavy as it has been, the number of kids going off to college continues to impress.

According to USA Baseball, only 7 percent of kids who play high school baseball make it to an NCAA college baseball program.

Punahou has three seniors — Kaikea Harrison (Texas A&M), Cody Kashimoto (Saint Mary’s) and Justin Tsukada (Portland) — headed off to Division I schools next season. Four other players will play at either a Division II or Division III school.

Over the course of Keenan Sue’s tenure, the Punahou baseball coach said they average around 50 percent of players who move on to play at the collegiate level.

“I think it’s a testament to their entire support system,” Sue said. “We are sort of the tip of the sphere in the sense that we get them at the very end of their high school careers — the pinnacle of their youth baseball experience.

“A lot of them have their own pitching coaches and their own hitting coaches, and I think all of the people who helped them along the way deserve a lot if not most of the credit. We’re just kind of writing the lineup based on who is the best.”

Longtime Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru, who has had 13 alums drafted during his 35-year tenure, has seniors heading off to Cal State Fullerton and Kansas this summer.

Muramaru, who coached Isiah Kiner-Falefa in high school, said the league might not have the next New York Yankees shortstop in it this year, but has still provided a unique challenge in the amount of talent it possesses.

“I think the talent overall is really good, really high,” Muramaru said. “There are not that many pro guys like in years past, but there are a whole bunch of really, really good college players. All of the teams have players that can play, so there are no easy outs.”

Muramaru said with the COVID-19 pandemic wiping out the 2020 season and limited games played last year without a state tournament, some players and teams have caught people’s attention by surprise.

That includes Maryknoll, which finished in a tie for fourth place with Punahou this season under coach Alaka‘i Aglipay, who has been in charge since 2019.

Aglipay, who won state titles as a player at Punahou from 2007 to ’10, has pitcher Parker Grant going to Kansas and outfielder Matthew Miura heading to Hawaii.

“The biggest goal for us as coaches is to send as many kids to college as possible at whatever level,” Aglipay said. “If we can provide an opportunity for all types of players to compete at the next level, I think that is something that has been one of my biggest missions at Maryknoll.”

The Spartans made the jump to Division I in 2016 and are looking to make their first appearance in states at that level since.

Prior to this season, in which they finished 8-5-1, Maryknoll had a 12-48 record in league play since making the jump.

“I had these seniors when I took over as the interim (coach) when they were freshmen, and to see them be a part of the program and lead the underclassmen through the entire offseason to see what hard work looks like is great,” Aglipay said. “I’m glad the boys are performing well because they deserve it. It’s not as easy as everyone thinks.”

Daryl Kitagawa, who is in his fourth year as Kamehameha’s head coach, said between last year and this year, 15 of the 23 seniors he’s coached have either already started or will play at the collegiate level.

In the previous two years, Kamehameha has sent pitchers Javyn Pimental to Arizona, Kelena Sauer to San Diego State, and Kitagawa’s son, Casey, to Loyola Marymount.

“Just to play in college is hard. It doesn’t matter what level,” Kitagawa said. “By far there’s the most parity (in the league) this year. Saint Louis has proved that they are the best team in the league, hands down, no question. But with the rest of the teams beating each other every single week and how the standings change every game, the parity this year was unbelievable, and to me, it’s been fun knowing every game is a dogfight. It’s a really, really good league this year.”

Saint Louis entered the tournament as the top seed after rattling off 10 straight wins following a 2-1-1 start.

Its top of the lineup features Nu’u Contrades, who signed with Arizona State; Xander Sielken, who is headed to Hawaii; and shortstop Aiva Arquette, who is one of three players in the league headed to Washington in the Pac-12.

“We’ve seen this coming for a while,” Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. “A lot of these guys have played on the mainland, played against high-caliber players and they are much more skilled than they ever were. Everyone is in the weight room getting stronger.”

During one stretch of the regular season, Saint Louis faced five consecutive opposing starting pitchers who will play at the college level next year, including ‘Iolani’s Zac Tenn (Washington), Mid-Pacific’s Kodey Shojinaga (Kansas) and Maryknoll’s Grant.

“This ’22 class is incredible,” Gusman said. “Usually we get six or seven (D-I players) in the league and we’ve got twice that. These guys are good pitchers and it’s been hard, man.”

Sue says the biggest change in the league over the past 10 years is on the mound.

“The one noticeable thing is the pitching has gotten exponentially better,” Sue said. “Everybody’s No. 1 or 2 is really good. They have command of all of their secondary pitches, and that’s keeping hitters off balance and off time.”

The following is a list of all seniors who are committed to play some form of college baseball next year, as well as underclassmen who have already committed to a Division I school:

DIVISION I

Aiva Arquette Saint Louis 6-4 INF Washington

Nu’u Contrades Saint Louis 5-11 INF Arizona State

Parker Grant Maryknoll 6-1 RHP Kansas

Kaikea Harrison Punahou 5-11 INF Texas A&M

Ka’olu Holt* Kamehameha 6-3 RHP Hawaii

Elijah Ickes* Kamehameha 6-0 INF Hawaii

Cody Kashimoto Punahou 5-7 INF St. Mary’s (Calif.)

Kaimana Lau Kong* ‘Iolani 6-6 U Hawaii

Matthew Miura Maryknoll 5-11 OF Hawaii

Draven Nushida Mid-Pacific 5-11 INF/OF CS Fullerton

Kahiau Schenk Saint Louis 6-2 RHP Hawaii

Kodey Shojinaga Mid-Pacific 5-11 RHP/U Kansas

Xander Sielken Saint Louis 5-10 INF Hawaii

Nolan Souza* Punahou 6-2 INF Arkansas

Beau Sylvester Kamehameha 6-0 C Washington

Zac Tenn ‘Iolani 6-1 RHP Washington

Justin Tsukada Punahou 5-8 C Portland

DIVISION II

Hunter Belmodis University Lab 5-8 LHP Hawaii Pacific

Kennedy Hara Mid-Pacific 5-8 INF/C Colorado Mesa

Noah Hata Maryknoll 5-8 OF/C Hawaii Pacific

Kila Kaniho Punahou 5-10 RHP/U Amherst

Jacob Ornellas Punahou 6-0 INF Augustana

DIVISION III

Jarin Ching ‘Iolani 5-10 INF La Verne

Peter Pappalardo Damien 6-1 INF/LHP Mt. St. Mary’s (N.Y.)

Jackson Keeenan Mid-Pacific 5-11 RHP Mary Hardin-Baylor

Cade Terada-Herzer Punahou 6-2 RHP Vassar

Jonah Velasco ‘Iolani 5-10 INF Puget Sound

Joey Wilson Punahou 5-11 INF/OF Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

NAIA

Miecah Andres Kamehameha 5-10 1B William Jessup

Keola Yim Kamehameha 6-0 RHP William Jessup

JUNIOR COLLEGE

Kodie Ecks Hanawahine Kamehameha 6-0 RHP Yuba College

Matthew Lawton Mid-Pacific 6-0 INF Cabrillo C.C.

Aaron Mills Mid-Pacific 6-0 RHP Big Bend C.C.

Shay Phillips Kamehameha 5-8 RHP Green River College

ALSO

Jarren Chiang Hawaii Baptist 5-8 3B/RHP Undecided

Kaena Kiakonoa Kamehameha 6-2 LHP Undecided

Duke Lee Hanalani 5-7 OF Undecided

Makani Tanaka ‘Iolani 6-2 OF Undecided

Troy Wakabayashi Hanalani 5-9 U Undecided

Karter Wong Mid-Pacific 6-0 OF/1B Undecided

* — verbal commitment as an underclassmen