2 Pac-12 baseball players from Hawaii transferring to play for Rainbows

The University of Hawaii baseball team is receiving a relative boost from two transfers from Pac-12 programs.

Jordan Donahue and Kyson Donahue — second cousins and middle infielders — will return home to play for the Rainbow Warriors this coming academic year.

Jordan, who is 5 feet 9 and 163 pounds, was at Oregon State the past two years. As a Damien Memorial School junior in 2018, Jordan was named Hawaii’s Division II player of the year. He will enroll as a third-year freshman in August and have four UH seasons of eligibility.

Kyson, a 2018 Punahou School graduate, played in 11 games as a third-year freshman at Arizona in 2021. He redshirted in 2019, then started in eight of nine games in the 2020 season that was abbreviated to 15 games because of the pandemic. Kyson has three remaining years of NCAA eligibility.

Both drew interest after entering the NCAA’s transfer portal. Jordan, who underwent surgery last week to repair the labrum on his left (non-throwing) arm, is expected to be healthy before the end of the coming fall training.

“I thought this would be a good fit for me being home and playing under Rich, who’s a really good coach,” Jordan said of Rich Hill, who was recently hired as UH’s head coach. “OSU was great. I met a lot of good people and learned a lot from the coaches there. I enjoyed my time there. I’m excited for a new chapter.”

Kyson, who is 6-3 and 205 pounds, also enjoyed his experience at Arizona.

“I had a good time there, and it was hard to leave, to be honest,” he said. “But I thought some changes are better for me, and to look for a place with a better opportunity. When Hawaii presented itself, I was more than excited to come home after being away for three years.”

Former Arizona head coach Jay Johnson, who was recently hired by LSU, was an assistant under Hill at San Diego.

The Donahues — whose fathers are first cousins — come from athletic families. Jordan’s father, Timo Donahue, played in the Cleveland Indians’ organization and also was head coach of the Waipio team that won the 2008 Little League World Series. Timo is a police lieutenant based in Wahiawa. Jordan’s brother, Christian Donahue, is a shortstop in the Chicago Cubs’ organization.

Kyson’s father, Conan Donahue, played football at Oregon State.

Jordan and Kyson were teammates on a youth Manoa team. Growing up, they also attended several UH baseball games at Les Murakami Stadium. It was between innings when Jordan and Kyson played catch in the back, and often wondered how they would do against Division I pitching.

“It definitely was a dream of mine to play at Les Murakami,” Kyson said.