It’s a long way from Kapaau to Keaau, but that’s the route Doug and Anne Atkins know quite well.

The proud grandparents got in the car and hit the road often the past four years, just to see grandson Tai Atkins and his team from Kamehameha-Hawaii take the field. Ninety-five miles for Warriors home games. Less mileage for most of the away games.

They didn’t know they would be witnessing history.

Atkins went 8-0 for the Warriors as a senior, with an 0.84 ERA, striking out 79 while walking just six batters in 41 innings. That included a complete-game win over powerful Waiakea, limiting the Warriors to a season-low two runs — only one was earned — while striking out eight with two walks.

“Their attitude was always, they want to face the best,” longtime Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Andy Correa said.

Waiakea coach Eric Kurosawa remembers that game well. It doesn’t faze him that Atkins, technically a D-II pitcher, was recognized across the state.

“I am not surprised because he threw against us. I don’t care what anyone says, we lost to a legitimate D-I pitcher,” Kurosawa said.

Coaches and media voted Atkins the Star-Advertiser All-State pitcher of the year in tight balloting. Campbell senior Ayzek Silva was a close second and Jason Shiigi of Mililani was third.

Atkins, who has committed to the University of Hawaii, is the first from Kamehameha-Hawaii to be named an All-State player of the year since Kolten Wong in 2008. He was up to the challenge against top competition in the BIIF’s combined regular-season schedule. Waiakea’s top three players — All-State first-team selections Stone Miyao, Kalai Rosario and Safea Mauai — were a combined 19-for-31 (.613) with 13 RBIs and 12 runs scored at the state tournament. Against their longtime friend and foe, Atkins, they were a collective 1-for-8 and struck out five times. Nobody did that to Waiakea. Not Hilo, which gave up 25 runs in four matchups. Not Leilehua (nine runs). Not Saint Louis (nine). Not Baldwin, which still rallied for an 8-5 win.

The tail action of the southpaw’s fastball, at 87 mph, is essentially a screwball. Add to that a spike curve that sometimes, unintentionally, switches from a 12/6 drop to a sweeping horizontal path.

“When I get into a rhythm, it does something magical that’s funny,” Atkins said. “From time to time, I get too much underneath or on the side and it sweeps. So my slight inconsistency with that at times might be a surprise factor.”

Correa compares Atkins favorably to some BIIF pitching greats.

“He’s comparable to Onan (Masaoka) and Kodi (Medeiros), but at the high school level, they had more velocity,” said Correa, whose brother, Tom, coached Waiakea to a state title in 2012. “The similarity is they all have a lot of movement. Tai is maybe more like Quintin (Torres-Costa) as far as velocity.”

Position player of the year honors went to ‘Iolani catcher Micah Yonamine, who batted .500 and slugged 11 home runs to power the Raiders. His teammate, center fielder Shane Sasaki, placed second in the voting and Waiakea center fielder Kala‘i Rosario was third.

“I feel like I’ve always had the raw tools, but this year putting on the weight and muscle boosted me and put me over the top,” Yonamine said. “I definitely put in a lot of work. This was the hardest I prepared for a season. Heading into the season, I knew I was going to do pretty well.”

The 6-4, 210-pound senior drove in 34 runs and finished with an OPS of 1.688 against what was arguably the toughest top-to-bottom competition statewide, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

“I’m happy for him. He earned it. The baseball ability is one thing, but I’m more impressed with the way he’s grown over the years into a young man,” Raiders coach Kurt Miyahira said. “Today, tomorrow, he’s working with underclassmen in the (batting) cage.”

The only team to keep him hitless for a game was Punahou. He responded by going 3-for-3 against the eventual state champions in their next meeting.

Yonamine was particularly tough on league runner-up Saint Louis, going 8-for-12 with three HRs, two doubles, 12 RBIs and three runs scored in three games.

“We couldn’t get the kid out,” Crusaders coach George Gusman said. “He’s humble and carries himself well. He’s also versatile. He played some third base last year and some first base this year. He really sacrificed by catching so other players could play to their strengths, so their position players could pitch. That was great stuff by him.”

With seven college offers, Yonamine signed to play at Illinois State next season. Last weekend, he had a workout in California with 11 other prospects for an MLB team.

Coach of the year honors went to Keenan Sue, who guided Punahou to its first state title since 2010. Kip Akana, who led St. Francis to the D-II state crown, was second in the voting, and Mililani’s Mark Hirayama was third.

Also receiving votes for COY were Daryl Kitagawa of Kamehameha, Shane Dudoit of Baldwin, Shane Kauhane of Castle and Kila Kaaihue of Kaiser.

All-State Baseball by on Scribd

See more about the Atkins, Yonamine and the All-State team at hawaiiprepworld.com.