OIA’s Top Windward Players

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Kailua’s Tyler Takata gets in some batting practice prior to the start of the summer season for the American Legion League. Photo by Byron Lee, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

As the Castle High baseball team made the rounds in its OIA East Red schedule this spring, third baseman Keola Jarrett made sure he made an impression at every stop.

“He was consistent from day one to the end of the season,” Castle coach Jon Berinobis said. “He got a lot of respect from every team he faced. There are a lot of great players in the East. For a senior, that’s the way to go out.”

Jarrett was recently named the East’s Player of the Year in a vote of league coaches after leading Castle to a 9-5 finish. While he was a clutch performer throughout, he was perhaps at his best in a double-header sweep against Moanalua when he combined for three homers in the two games (for a total of five RBI) and also earned a save to preserve the win in Game One.In a key contest with rival Kailua, which won the East title, Jarrett was perfect in four at-bats and drove in four runs.

Berinobis credits Jarrett’s work ethic with contributing to his “breakthrough” senior season. “He had a great off-season of weight training and conditioning. He exceeded my expectations. He has a good attitude, he’s coachable, and he’s always looking to get better.”

Jarrett batted a team-best .400 with 15 RBI and three home runs. He was Castle’s only First Team selection, although the team placed both Seamus Yoshige and Hans Reppuhn on the Second Team at pitcher and outfielder, respectively.

Yoshige hit .347 with 11 RBI, while Reppuhn was one of the Knights’ better defensive players. “Seamus also worked hard,“Berinobis said. “He came through. He batted right behind Keola in the No. 5 spot, and he had a lot of clutch hits.

“Hans was sound, defensively,“he added of Reppuhn, who plans to walk on to the UH football team.

Brede Kochi, Justin Rey Kaawa, Froy Smith Jr., Branden Higa,Nicholas Oreta, Robert Fram and Garrett Paredes all were named to the Honorable Mention team from Castle.

Second baseman Jared Iha, outfielder Kory Sasaoka and utility player Alika RamseyerHo were named to the First Team from Kailua, which won the Red East title and finished 15-4 overall. The Surfriders played some of their best baseball at last month’s Division I state tournament, taking three games out of four, including wins over Kaiser (6-1 first round), Campbell (5-3 in the consolation semifinal) and Pearl City (8-2 in fifth-place game). Kailua’s only loss at the tournament came to eventual state champion Saint Louis 4-2 in the quarterfinals.

Making the Second Team from Kailua were catcher Alan Baldwin, first baseman Ryan McMonigle, shortstop Elia Lono and outfielder Jared Matsumoto, while Bryson Dymond, Tyson Lono and Patrick Wolfe received Honorable Mention.