Connor Zalewski may or may not be the best baseball player in the OIA East this spring, but there’s no question no other newcomer has made quite the impact.

Kalani exploded out of the gate with eight wins in a row — and a No. 5 ranking in the Star-Advertiser Baseball Top 10 — before falling to Kailua on Saturday. With the home-and-away split against the traditional powerhouse Surfriders, Kalani still holds first place in the East, and Zalewski is one of the biggest reasons why. The 6-foot-3 senior is 3-1 with a 2.59 ERA, even after a rough outing over the weekend.

“This is one of the best seasons Kalani’s had in the past 10 years. A lot of guys stepped up, hitting and driving the ball,” said Zalewski, who is batting .368 with five RBIs, three stolen bases and an on-base percentage of .500.

With 24 strikeouts in 29-plus innings, he has been a remarkable arrival for the Falcons. He has fared well against OIA East power Moanalua twice. The first was a five-hit, seven-strikeout effort in a no-decision. In the rematch, he fired a two-hitter with four K’s and no walks, allowing no earned runs for a complete-game win.

“His mechanics are pretty sound and he throws a lot of strikes,” Moanalua coach Scott Yamada said. “His strong point is that he is a smart pitcher. His ability to get batters out reminds me of a Greg Maddux.”

Using a mix of pitches, including a circle change, Zalewski also fired a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in a win over Kailua early in the season, allowing no earned runs. He fanned six in a victory over Kaiser. Then came Saturday’s rough loss at Kailua, where he walked four and allowed seven runs in less than two innings, his first loss of the season.

Coach Shannon Hirai is riding the team’s first loss with his usual, even-keeled perspective.

“We’re still in control of our destiny. I think the loss kind of humbled some of our kids, especially Connor, learning to throw with a five-run lead. He’s never experienced that with us. You’ve just got to throw your fastball for strikes. Maybe it was too much respect for Kailua pitchers, he was a little too fine. That’s part of the learning process,” he said.

Zalewski grew up playing youth baseball on the Windward side, where coach Vern Awa ran a tight ship.

“We would practice in his backyard every day and he was hard on us,” Zalewski said on a sunny, breezy afternoon at Kahala Park. “I’m definitely thankful for all my coaches that I had growing up. They all impacted my life.”

By middle school, he was enrolled at Mid-Pacific, where Dunn Muramaru’s mantra of repetition and craftsmanship on the diamond has not waned in more than two decades. A month ago, it was MPI ace Chase Wago who brought up the absence of Zalewski near the end of an interview. Zalewski came into the spring of 2015 with plenty of promise after a strong offseason, but an injury derailed his entire junior season.

“It’s real rough. If this team (Kalani) wasn’t 8-1, it would be a rough transition,” Zalewski said. “I still miss my friends (at MPI). When I’m not here, I’m rooting for them. We won the (ILH) JV championship during my freshman year. Those are my closest friends that I’ll never forget.”

It was an odd circumstance during the fall semester that changed Zalewski’s path. Though he can’t comment much about it, saying, “There’s no evidence,” he was dismissed from MPI and wound up at Kalani, the school Muramaru coached at before landing with the Owls years ago.

“I got into an incident at school. Only me and the school know what happened. The only other person who knows is Coach Trap (Mike Trapasso of the University of Hawaii), and he totally supports me,” Zalewski said.

UH’s scholarship, he confirmed, is still on the table.

“Without that incident, I wouldn’t have pitched this many innings. Coach Dunn pitched Chase in the big games,” he said. “I do kind of regret it. It was a careless mistake, but you learn from it. I grew up a lot from it.”

He’s found a big supporter in Hirai, who played for Muramaru back in the day at Kalani.

“He’s a knowledgeable guy and he cares about people,” Zalewski said. “He keeps in contact with coaches and scouts. He makes sure I’m on the path.”

“The path” is also how Hirai describes it.

“I think a lot of teenagers go through that with bad choices. I think he’s learned a great deal from that. People will always ask about it. Colleges that are interested in him will ask about it. What’s done is done, can’t change it. It’s what you do from here on. And he’s been on the right path,” Hirai said.

The Falcons have made few errors this regular season, stepping up after struggling in preseason.

“As soon as OIA season started, we were ready to play. They’re just as hungry as I am. We’re definitely not satisfied. We haven’t hit our peak yet,” Zalewski said. “I can’t tell the future, but I know we’re going to make states. We’ll see how far we go.”

THE HIGH SCHOOL TOP 10

Voted on by coaches and media statewide. First-place votes in parentheses. Ten points for first-place votes, nine for second, etc.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Also receiving votes: ‘Iolani 9, Punahou 1-AA 4, Waipahu 2.

BASEBALL

Also receiving votes: Kailua 16, Kamehameha-Hawaii 9, ‘Iolani 4, Moanalua 2, Maryknoll 1, St. Francis 1.

SOFTBALL

Also receiving votes: Kamehameha-Hawaii 14, Kealakehe 10, Punahou 7, Pearl City 5, Pac-Five 5, Kailua 4, Aiea 3, Baldwin 2, Mid-Pacific 1.