For Coach Yamato, Baseball’s All About R-E-S-P-E-C-T

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Charger coach Mitchell Yamato. Photo by Leah Friel, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

At 37, new Pearl City head varsity baseball coach Mitchell Yamato already has coached nearly half of his life, and if you include the years he thought about wanting to be a coach, you could say he’s been at it his entire life.

“I always liked or loved the game,” he said. “It’s more of a passion for me.”

Most years were spent coaching Little League in the area, including leading a Pearl City team to the Junior League World Series in 2007. He spent the last three seasons as Pearl City’s JV coach. In that span, varsity coach Gary Nakamoto led the Chargers on an incredible run that saw them win 47 of 54 games in addition to winning three straight OIA championships. Nakamoto resigned in early June for health reasons. Pearl City also won the OIA title in 2007 under Mel Seki, the last year of his tenure.

“There’s a sense of pride (in taking the Pearl City job),” said Yamato, who graduated from the school in 1991. “I hope we can continue where Mel and Gary left off. They’ve been really successful over here.”

Yamato would be the last to underestimate the role the community youth leagues play in supplying the high school program with its pool of talent.

“I’ll still try and be involved (with Little League),” he said. “If it wasn’t for them, Pearl City wouldn’t be where they are right now.”

The community’s baseball tradition feeds itself, in Yamato’s view, given the amount of players from the area who stay involved in baseball.

“We’re fortunate that a lot of coaches come back and give back. The knowledge the kids get from the coaches has changed, and the kids are way quicker and stronger. They also have more opportunities than 10, 15 or 20 years ago.”

Yamato’s approach includes an emphasis on “respect for the game itself.”

“We expect a lot from the kids,” he explained. “We’re strong with discipline and respect. If they give the game the respect it deserves, then we’re happy.”

Yamato will build his first Pearl City varsity team around returnees Isaac Shim, Sumi Pruitt, Tyler Tokunaga and Chevas Numata, among others. The seniors were in their freshman year when Yamato took over at JV, and a handful, including Pruitt, were on the World Series Junior Championship team.

Several players were on other teams during American Legion League the past eight weeks. Yamato hopes to have the team back intact in the coming months.

“We missed out on some summer stuff, but we’re trying to get them playing together again in the Rural League,” he said. Meanwhile, another crop of talent hits the campus in the coming weeks when the class of 2014 officially enrolls.

“The group coming up were the Waipio Little League champions,” he said.