Kahi Bisho told Pacific (Ore.) baseball coach Brian Billings he had his back.
The senior right-hander, who had started in all but one of his appearances this season, threw 93 pitches in an 8-7 win in extra innings on Friday against Pacific Lutheran to open the Northwest Conference tournament.
Two days and four games later, with the conference championship at stake, Bisho was summoned in the top of the seventh inning with the Boxers holding a one-run lead over Linfield (Ore.) in a winner-take-all tournament finale.
“I told him, ‘I got you, Coach,’ ” Bisho said in a phone interview Tuesday when asked if he could throw on short rest.
The 2018 Punahou alumnus worked the final three innings of an 8-5 win over the Wildcats without allowing a hit. He walked one and struck out four, including the final batter of the game, to win the program’s second conference title in a row and lock up a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.
“My arm actually felt good on only one day of rest,” said Bisho, who needed 37 pitches to finish off the victory. “I went out there and did my job and everything turned out how it’s supposed to be.”
That’s kind of how Bisho’s entire college career has worked out. After graduating from Punahou, Bisho went to Kansas, where he pitched just 92⁄3 innings over two seasons, including the pandemic-shortened 2020 year.
During the pandemic, Bisho entered the transfer portal and ended up in Forest Grove, Ore., where he has excelled the past two seasons, putting up big numbers and pitching in some memorable postseason games.
The Boxers not only won the conference title last year, but ended up all the way in the championship round of their NCAA Regional.
“Pacific was just the best decision I’ve made in my whole life,” said Bisho, who is 3-3 with a 2.52 ERA this season and has struck out 53 in 532⁄3 innings. “Meeting the guys I’ve met and being a part of a championship team for the first time has been the highlight of everything.”
The Boxers list 14 players from Hawaii high schools on their roster. Two of the top three hitters on the team are freshman shortstop Ty Yukumoto (.358 BA, six doubles, two homers, 16 RBIs, 26 runs) and junior third baseman Tyler Quinn (.329 BA, nine doubles, five homers, 33 RBIs, 35 runs).
Quinn, a 2019 Maryknoll alumnus who also is a backup catcher, hit .364 as a sophomore.
“My freshman year is when we became a better team for the most part,” Quinn said in a phone interview Tuesday. “We started off at the bottom of the pack in the conference, and ever since I got here, there’s been a really good culture that has been in place that has been a huge part of our success.”
Quinn had his freshman season cut short due to the pandemic, but used that time to gain 30 pounds.
He tied his season high with three hits in the championship game against Linfield and totaled four runs and four RBIs over the final three games of the tournament to make sure he’d get back to playing in another NCAA regional.
“We’re just at this point where we kind of major in baseball and minor in finance of whatever business concentration you’re trying to do,” Quinn said. “The highlight of Pacific has definitely been this baseball program. The culture here is phenomenal. We just hit constantly and we work at getting better all of the time.”
Pacific had to beat Linfield twice on Sunday to win the double-elimination tournament.
Over the past two seasons, the Boxers are 10-4 in either conference tournament or NCAA regional games.
“That freshman year was the year I made the decision that I was going to take baseball more seriously and do whatever it takes to have a good career,” Quinn said. “Being able to win these must-win games and knowing that I have the skills needed to be able to execute when the time comes has been huge. Day in and day out, just lifting and hitting and being able to trust myself and the program in general has been amazing.”
The Boxers won’t find out their postseason draw until May 16. They have a tournament against three conference opponents this weekend before a long break until the NCAA Tournament.
“Honestly, I’ve never really been on a team where the culture is everyone just caring for each other and everyone here really cares about winning and being there for each other,” said Bisho, who plans to return next season with his extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic. “The coaches do a really great job here running the program. I bought in and everything else since then has been history.”
Players listed on the Pacific baseball roster from Hawaii:
Jordan Hara (‘Iolani) 5-8, Sr
Kahi Bisho (Punahou) 5-10, Sr
Ty Yukumoto (Leilehua) 5-8, Fr
Tyler Quinn (Maryknoll) 5-10, Jr
Cayden Okada (Mid-Pacific) 6-1, Fr
Robert Drayer (Baldwin) 5-11, Sr
Tamatoa Mataafa-Alferos (Saint Louis) 5-9, Fr
Dawson Tokishi (Baldwin) 5-9, So
Bubba Chuckas (St. Anthony) 5-10, Sr
Reyn Okita (Baldwin) 6-0, So
Zaine Gushiken (Mililani) 5-6, So
Trent Nakata (Moanalua) 5-8, So
Tyler Nakata (Moanalua) 5-7, Sr
Kamaha’o Arita (Kamehameha) 6-5, Sr
