Surfrider Second Baseman Aims For Cypress Junior College
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usLong before Surfrider Jared Iha showed his speed on the base paths, he already was exhibiting his swiftness at the Pearlridge Toys ‘R’ Us.
“My older son (Maika) would head straight to the (toy) trucks, and Jared would run to the aisle with the sports equipment,“said mom Susan Iha.“He would always run back to me with a baseball bat and a glove or a bat and a ball. From the time he was 3, baseball has been his passion.”
For Maika and older sister Alysa, who now teaches at Kailua High, their younger brother’s all-consuming interest sometimes went to the outer limits.
The movie Sandlot was often the featured film during family time. “The older kids would hide it from him,“said Mom.“They didn’t want to see it anymore.”
The ohana is on board with Jared’s passion for baseball now for sure. Alysa took him to California last fall to visit 10 colleges. The family pooled their frequent-flier miles to fund the trip.
While Jared has the grades to go anywhere (he’s an A student), baseball is still big in his future plans. He expects to attend Cypress Junior College in California next year, where he can play baseball while hoping to earn an athletic scholarship. Junior colleges in California aren’t allowed to give such scholarships, but his hard work in the classroom will allow him to earn an academic scholarship to Cypress.
Iha’s pursuit of good grades and good baseball skills hasn’t left much spare time, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He found a natural role model in Kailua coach Corey Ishigo, who parlayed his own hard work into a stellar career at UH Manoa - a career that began without a scholarship.
“Coach always said it takes no talent to work hard,” Iha said.“What you put in is what you get out of it. I work hard in practice so it will carry over into the game.” That is also true of his work at school.“Education is first, and baseball is the icing on the cake,” he added.
Iha was an OIA All-Conference player last year, but his work ethic defines him. He was the first Kailua player in 17 years to crack the starting lineup as a freshman in 2007, and he’ll bring a string of 57 consecutive starts into Saturday’s doubleheader versus Kalani at Kahala Field.
Iha and Kailua took a 2-2 record into their game with neighboring Kalaheo over the weekend and have been putting in extra time as always, with a handful continuing to practice on Sundays, the Surfriders’only official day off.
“Coach (Ishigo) tells us whoever isn’t busy can come, and there are usually five or six of us,” Iha said.“I’ve been trying to put in extra time to better myself and to better the team. I love playing for Coach Corey. He pushes us to work hard. His philosophy is good things come to those who work hard.He told us the story of how he had one opportunity as a walk-on (at UH) to pinch hit and how he made the most of that one opportunity by getting a base hit. He motivates me to work hard.”
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