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From San Francisco to Virginia and North Dakota to Texas, a limited number of baseball players from Hawaii span the entire continental United States.
There are 20 players who graduated from high school in Hawaii playing Division I baseball on the mainland. Half of those have graduated since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, including Texas A&M shortstop Kalae Harrison.
The 2020 Punahou alumnus, who hit the go-ahead two-run double to help the Buffanblu win the state championship in 2019, had his senior season cut short by the pandemic, which has wiped out the past two years of the state baseball tournament.
“We had a great team going into that (2020) season,” Harrison said in a phone interview Tuesday before the Aggies hosted a nonconference game against Lamar. “We were hoping to defend our state championship and we had a bunch of seniors (more than half the team), so it was tough to handle in the moment, but at the same time, we just needed to get through it because the whole world was going through something as well.”
Harrison, one of two players from Hawaii currently playing college baseball in Texas, started all three games opening weekend for the Aggies.
He hit .286 (2-for-7) with five walks, two runs scored and two RBIs in a three-game sweep of Fordham at Blue Bell Park.
More than 6,000 people attended the home opener for the Aggies, who rank in the top 10 in attendance after the opening weekend.
“It’s been a big eye-opener,” Harrison said about playing for the Aggies. “College Station is a very big college town and it’s very far away from everything else, but it’s a cool place. We had horses running around the field for opening day. That’s something you wouldn’t see in Hawaii.”
Harrison hasn’t run into very many people from Hawaii in college. His double-play partner at second base, Kole Kaler, transferred from UH in the offseason.
Mostly, it’s the people in Texas who have questions for Harrison when they find out where he’s from.
“When my friends introduce me, they somehow always mix in I’m from Hawaii, so that always creates a conversation,” Harrison said. “Definitely the main questions are always, ‘How’s the beach?,’ ‘Is the weather always nice in Hawaii?,’ ‘Do you surf?’
“Not a whole lot of people know somebody from Hawaii in Texas, so it’s definitely cool to wear (home) on my sleeve.”
Harrison doesn’t see any of his former high school teammates or opponents much playing in the SEC.
The Aggies are playing in the Frisco College Baseball Classic on March 4-6 and open with Washington State, but catcher Matt Erickson, a Mid-Pacific alumnus, is hurt and not traveling with the Cougars.
“That’s really too bad,” Harrison said. “I was looking forward to that.”
Twelve of the 20 players from Hawaii play on the West Coast. Kailua alum Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo, who transferred in the offseason from Fort Scott Community College, is the starting second baseman at Tarleton State, which is approximately 180 miles northwest of Texas A&M.
Growing up on an island, there is one thing that stands out about Texas.
“It’s amazing how much land there is,” Harrison said.
Here is the full list of players from Hawaii playing Division I baseball on the mainland:
Name School Ht. Pos. Gr. High school
Maui Ahuna Kansas 6-1 INF So. Hilo
Matt Erickson Washington St. 6-2 C So. Mid-Pacific
Kalae Harrison Texas A&M 5-11 INF So. Punahou
Jacob Hinderleider Davidson 6-2 INF Jr. ‘Iolani
Brayden Hiraki CSUN 5-11 LHP Fr. ‘Iolani
Hunter Hirayama Saint Mary’s 5-9 SS Fr. Saint Louis
Jonah Hurney Virginia Tech 5-7 LHP Jr. Hawaii Prep
Casey Kitagawa LMU 5-10 RHP Fr. Kamehameha
Shaydon Kubo Northern Colorado 5-8 INF So. ‘Iolani
Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo Tarleton St. 6-1 INF Jr. Kailua
Caleb Lomavita Cal 5-11 C Fr. Saint Louis
Matthew McConnell USF 6-1 RHP So. Punahou
JT Navyac Cal St. Fullerton 6-0 INF/RHP So. Saint Louis
Brock Perreira Cal St. Bakersfield 6-0 C/1B Fr. Kaiser
Javyn Pimental Arizona 6-3 LHP Fr. Kamehameha
Kalena Sauer San Diego St. 6-3 RHP So. Kamehameha
Trayden Tamiya Air Force 5-6 INF Jr. Waiakea
Keith Torres Sacramento St. 5-7 INF Sr. Saint Louis
Jake Tsukada Portland 5-8 INF So. Punahou
Logan Williams North Dakota St. 6-1 C Sr. Punahou
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