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Saturday, December 14, 2024 81° Today's Paper


Hawaii Grown Notebook: Baseball, golf, softball

EMMA PRAVECEK / KANSAS ATHLETICS
                                Mid-Pacific 2022 grad Kodey Shojinaga, above, became the first player in Kansas baseball history to win Big 12 co-Freshman of the Year.
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EMMA PRAVECEK / KANSAS ATHLETICS

Mid-Pacific 2022 grad Kodey Shojinaga, above, became the first player in Kansas baseball history to win Big 12 co-Freshman of the Year.

COURTESY SACRAMENTO STATE ATHLETICS
                                Baldwin 2022 grad Wehiwa Aloy batted a team-high .376 for Sacramento State and was named WAC Freshman of the Year.
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COURTESY SACRAMENTO STATE ATHLETICS

Baldwin 2022 grad Wehiwa Aloy batted a team-high .376 for Sacramento State and was named WAC Freshman of the Year.

COURTESY OREGON TECH ATHLETICS
                                Puakea Milbourne, a Kapolei 2022 graduate and Oregon Tech first baseman, represented Hawaii by displaying the Hawaiian flag. Milbourne has started all 58 games in leading the Owls to the NAIA Softball World Series.
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COURTESY OREGON TECH ATHLETICS

Puakea Milbourne, a Kapolei 2022 graduate and Oregon Tech first baseman, represented Hawaii by displaying the Hawaiian flag. Milbourne has started all 58 games in leading the Owls to the NAIA Softball World Series.

EMMA PRAVECEK / KANSAS ATHLETICS
                                Mid-Pacific 2022 grad Kodey Shojinaga, above, became the first player in Kansas baseball history to win Big 12 co-Freshman of the Year.
COURTESY SACRAMENTO STATE ATHLETICS
                                Baldwin 2022 grad Wehiwa Aloy batted a team-high .376 for Sacramento State and was named WAC Freshman of the Year.
COURTESY OREGON TECH ATHLETICS
                                Puakea Milbourne, a Kapolei 2022 graduate and Oregon Tech first baseman, represented Hawaii by displaying the Hawaiian flag. Milbourne has started all 58 games in leading the Owls to the NAIA Softball World Series.

BASEBALL

>> Wehiwa Aloy, Baldwin ’22: The Sacramento State shortstop was named the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year on Monday. Aloy, who also was named to the All-WAC second team, finished the regular season among the top 10 in the conference in 11 categories while sitting 12th in the NCAA in hits with 88 and 14th in runs scored with 69. Aloy finished the regular season hitting a team-high .376 with 14 homers and 56 RBIs, setting the school record for home runs by a freshman in the Division I era. Sacramento State won its final five games to finish 30-26 this season and extend its streak of 30-win seasons to 11, becoming the only Division I program in the state of California to accomplish the feat.

>> Caleb Lomavita, Saint Louis ’21: The California sophomore catcher was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Golden Bears to a series win over Washington over the weekend. Lomavita, who entering Tuesday’s games was hitting .307 this season with 11 doubles, 15 homers, 39 RBIs and 44 runs scored, finished 7-for-12 with four homers, six runs scored, six RBIs, a walk and a stolen base against the Huskies. Lomavita, tied for sixth in the Pac-12 in home runs, homered twice in each of the final two games of the series against No. 24 Washington as California outscored UW 28-18 in the two wins.

>> Kodey Shojinaga, Mid-Pacific ’22: The Kansas second baseman became the first player in program history to win Big 12 co-Freshman of the Year honors on Tuesday. Shojinaga, who also earned All-Big 12 second-team honors, is seventh in the nation amongst true freshmen with a team-best .380 batting average, ranking second in the conference. He leads the team in hits (70), on-base percentage (.424) and OPS (.962) and has also hit 11 doubles and six homers and scored 40 runs. Kansas begins the Big 12 tournament today against Texas.

>> Trayden Tamiya, Waiakea ’18: The Air Force senior second baseman finished 4-for-13 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs as the Falcons lost two of three to UNLV over the weekend. Tamiya, who has started all 55 games and is second on the team in batting with a .346 average with 14 doubles, three triples, two homers, 35 runs scored and 42 RBIs, will lead the third-seeded Falcons into the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament against No. 2 seed San Diego State on Thursday.

>> Kelena Sauer, Kamehameha ’20: The San Diego State junior right-hander picked up his 12th save of the season with a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout in a 4-3 win over New Mexico on Friday.

>> Kalae Harrison, Punahou ’20: The N.C. State junior shortstop finished 5-for-11 with three runs, three RBIs and a stolen base in a sweep of Pittsburgh over the weekend. Harrison recorded the first four-hit game of his career in a 17-8 win on Friday and finished the regular season hitting .316 with eight doubles, three triples, two homers, 41 runs and 29 RBIs in 52 starts entering the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

>> Jonah Hurney, Hawaii Prep ’18: The Virginia Tech senior left-hander started the regular-season finale against No. 1 Wake Forest andpitched a perfect first inning with two strikeouts to help the Hokies beat the Demon Deacons 14-6 to finish the regular season 30-21 overall.

>> Maui Ahuna, Hilo ’22: The Tennessee junior shortstop finished 3-for-9 with three walks, two doubles, a run scored and two RBIs as the Volunteers took two of three over No. 13 South Carolina over the weekend to finish the regular season. Tennessee (38-18), ranked No. 9 in the country and seeded seventh in the Southeastern Conference, was eliminated from the SEC Tournament by No. 10 Texas A&M on Tuesday.

>> Jake Tsukada, Punahou ’19: The Portland senior second baseman finished 7-for-12 with a double, a walk, four RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base to help the Pilots win two of three against San Francisco over the weekend. Tsukada finished the regular season hitting .301 with six doubles, two triples, 31 runs scored and 24 RBIs for the Pilots (29-20), who are the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference Championships and will open the postseason tournament on Thursday.

>> Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo, Kailua ’18: The Tarleton State senior third baseman finished 3-for-9 with a walk and a home run as the Texans closed the season winning two of three against Sam Houston State over the weekend. Kurahashi-Choy Foo finished the season starting 46 of 52 games and hitting .276 with six doubles, four homers, 27 runs scored and 35 RBIs.

>> Mason Hirata, Waiakea ’18: The Nevada senior shortstop closed his career going 2-for-4 with a double in a 6-1 loss to San Jose State on Saturday. Hirata started 40 games and hit .234 with four doubles, two triples, a homer, 16 runs scored and 15 RBIs in his senior season.

>> Jacob Hinderleider, ‘Iolani ’19: The Davidson senior shortstop appeared in two games in the final series of the season against Richmond as a pinch hitter and went 1-for-1 with a sacrifice fly. Hinderleider started 41 games and hit .286 with 15 doubles, six homers, 26 runs scored and 24 RBIs for the Wildcats (29-22), who opened the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Tuesday as the No. 2 seed.

WOMEN’S GOLF

>> Reese Guzman, Maui ’19: The Pepperdine senior finished in a tie for 41st place at 3-over 291 in the NCAA Championships that ended Monday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Guzman closed with three consecutive 73s after opening with an even-par 72 to help Pepperdine qualify for match play after finishing eighth in the team standings. Pepperdine, which was ranked No. 16 by Golfstat and seeded 13th in the tournament, finished three shots clear of ninth place to become one of three non-Power Five schools to reach match play. The season ended Tuesday when Pepperdine lost to top seed Stanford in the match-play quarterfinals. Guzman faced two-time defending NCAA individual champion Rose Zhang of Stanford and lost 6 and 5.

>> Myah McDonald, Mid-Pacific ’20: The New Mexico junior finished in a tie for 55th place at 7 over at the NCAA Championships. McDonald closed with a 1-over 73 on Monday.

SOFTBALL

>> Puakea Milbourne, Kapolei ’22: The Oregon Tech freshman first baseman reached base in all three plate appearances, finishing 2-for-2 with a walk in a 5-2 win over Saint Xavier last Wednesday to earn a berth in the NAIA Softball World Series. Milbourne started all 58 games this season for the Owls and is hitting .322 with eight doubles, two triples, three home runs, 30 runs scored and 35 RBIs. Oregon Tech (50-8) is seeded first in the World Series for the first time ever and will play its first game on Thursday.

>> Keila Kamoku, Kamehameha ’21: The Ole Miss sophomore second baseman finished 3-for-12 with a triple, a homer and three RBIs to help the Rebels finish 2-2 in the NCAA Salt Lake Regional. Ole Miss’ season ended with a 4-1 loss to Utah in the regional final on Sunday.

>> Darian Kanno, Mid-Pacific ’21: The Hiram (Ohio) sophomore was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Division III Cleveland Regional on Saturday. Kanno went 3-for-6 with a double, two homers, three walks and four RBIs in three games. She also pitched in each game, finishing 2-0 with a save while allowing two runs over 71⁄3 innings. Hiram will play Coe College in the NCAA Super Regionals beginning Friday.

>> Destiny Lum, Kamehameha ’22: The Worcester Polytechnic Institute freshman was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Region first team on Friday. Lum, who also earned All-New England Athletic Conference first-team honors, led the Crimson and Gray in hits (52), doubles (14), home runs (eight) and RBIs (49). She finished ninth in the conference with a .406 batting average and her home-run total tied for tops in the league.

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Compiled by Billy Hull, Star-Advertiser. To submit an athlete for publication email: bhull@staradvertiser.com.

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