Pre-season Strengthens Falcons’ Bid For 2007 Crown
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usFor the Kalani baseball team, the road to the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Eastern Division title will pass through the Mainland.
Indeed, should the Falcons make a long-awaited return to the state tournament in May, they will likely credit a rugged pre-schedule with having contributed largely to that feat. Including their March 14 game against Bishop Gorman High (NV) in Nevada, Kalani will play four games on the Mainland with two coming against schools ranked by Baseball America.
“We’re going to play some good teams, so it will be interesting to see how we do,” Kalani coach Shannon Hirai said. “Hopefully, we can shake things up. Taking the kids on a trip will give them a lot of experience and bring them closer, since they’ll be together for a week. Playing the better teams on Oahu will also help us.”
Kalani had played six pre-season games heading into the weekend, including a 9-3 win over defending state champion Punahou (rated 41st nationally) on Feb. 16, and the team benefited from a great so-called off-season, according to Hirai. Last July, Hirai and Kaiser coach Peter Ho’s combined American Legion League team, Falcon Baseball, advanced all the way to the Final Four of the West Regional of the National Tournament. Five of the Falcons - Micah Takahashi, Jordan Sumida, Ridge Carpenter, Terrence Lum and Shamus Kumashiro - played key roles on that team and lead a veteran cast for the Falcons this spring.
“Those five are really going to help us down the road,” said Hirai, whose team will host West Lauderdale (MS), which is ranked 31st, at 3 p.m. Saturday at Kahala Field.
Carpenter, a senior outfielder, was the league’s leading hitter last year, batting over .500 on a team that posted a team average of .320.
“If he can repeat the year he had last year, we’ll do really well,” Hirai said. “He’s one of our top hitters. It will be interesting to see how people pitch to him this year.”
Takahashi and Kumashiro will likely be at the top of the Falcon pitching rotation. Takahashi is hoping to regain the form of his sophomore year in 2005 when he was a First Team All-Star selection by the East coaches. Injuries eliminated most of his junior season.
“His velocity is good - he’s been clocked at 91 on the Mainland - so he can dominate a game when he’s on,” Hirai said. “Shamus had some big wins for us last year, against Castle and Waianae, and if we can get him pitching like he did last year, we can go really far.”
Hirai calls Sumida, a senior shortstop, “our sparkplug.”“He’s our lead-off hitter. We follow his lead, and he leads our entire defense in the middle. Terrence is our key in the outfield. He has good range.”
In the early pre-season Hirai rated his defense as being ahead of his offense.
“Our pitching is our strength,” said Hirai, whose team finished 8-4 last season, after winning the East in 2005.“Our hitting has been up and down. We don’t have as much power as in past years, so that would be our weakness right now.”
The Falcons’ preparation for this season wasn’t limited to summer league play. During the fall, Hirai held 6:30 a.m. weight training sessions for his returnees.
“They worked really hard,” he said.“They’re putting a lot of pressure on themselves to win our Division and get to the state tournament.”
Following Wednesday’s game with Bishop Gorman, Kalani will meet Liberty High (NV) on Thursday. On March 19 and 20, the Falcons will play Arcadia (AZ) and Cushing Academy (MA) in Phoenix.
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