Falcons Honing Their Talents Against ‘High Rent’ Teams
By Jack Danilewicz
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The best sign of Kalani High School’s ascent to the high-rent district of Hawaii prep baseball might be the list of high-profile programs that make up its pre-season schedule.
Although its 5-1 start in OIA Red East play is certainly a more noteworthy development, head coach Shannon Hirai sees a big correlation between the two.
“Playing teams from the ILH really helps us,” said Hirai, whose team was tied with Kailua for first in the East heading into last weekend.
“We played Kamehameha three times; Iolani, Punahou, Damian handed it to us, too,” he added with a laugh. “There was a time when we could really only get into the Kitamura Tournament.”
Among the teams Kalani got a look at in preseason was OIA Red East foe Moanalua, which is this week’s opponent. The Falcons will visit Na Menehune at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday before hosting Moanalua at 3 p.m. Saturday at Kahala Field.
Moanalua beat Kalani 11-1 on Feb. 28 in the Mililani preseason tournament, but the Falcons were hardly at full strength, with three projected starters out of the lineup that day with injuries.
Moanalua had split a pair of doubleheaders with Kaiser and Castle to go 2-2 through its first four games heading into last weekend.
“They have one of the deeper pitching staffs in the East, so pitching and defense will be keys for us,” Hirai said. “Except for our one blow-out game (an 11-0 loss to Kailua in the first of a twin bill), we’ve been playing pretty good, defensively.”
Pitching also has played a big part to date, led by senior right-hander Dillon Matsuda. Entering last weekend, Matsuda already had posted three wins, throwing a one-hitter, a two-hitter and a three-hitter in the process.
“He’s grown up as a pitcher as far as his poise,” Hirai said. “He’s a lot better.”
Kalani’s offensive output has been constant, meanwhile, tal-lying 40 runs through its first six games. Wataru Noguchi and Jordan Wong, who are batting over .600 and .500, respectively, have led the way. Both are key defensive players as well.
“Defensively, Wataru covers a lot of ground as our center fielder and, hitting-wise, he already has a whole bunch of doubles and triples. Jason has gotten stronger.
He’s a four-year starter who has been hitting the ball real well.”
Catcher Kiel Odo and utility player Jake Massey also return as three-year starters for the Falcons team.
“Kiel gives a chance when teams try to run on us, and he’s one of the stronger kids on the team,” Hirai said of Odo, who is one of three captains along with Massey and sophomore Matthew Murakami. “Jake is having a real good year, defensively.”
While a veteran team to a degree, the Falcons also carry seven sophomores and five transfers, making for a competitive pre-season as players jockeyed for playing time. The mix of veterans and newcomers wasn’t without its complications, according to the coach, however.
“Our biggest concern has been the maturity of the seniors and how well they’d be able to get along with the underclassmen, When they would get down in the preseason, they would blame each other and fold. We had a long talk right after the Mililani Tournament. There had been a lot of bickering, and I told them if they couldn’t get along, we weren’t going anywhere.
“They’re starting to get along now, and that’s been a big key for us.”
On the heels of the series with Moanalua High School, Kalani still has a pair of regular-season doubleheaders remaining to play versus defending OIA champion Pearl City April 11 and rival Kaiser April 18.
The Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs will begin on April 20.
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