A few months ago, Kaua‘i High School baseball coach Hank Ibia got a pleasant surprise when an anonymous fan delivered several thousand posters touting not only the 2004 KIF Red Raider baseball season, but featuring eight of the Kaua‘i High
A few months ago, Kaua‘i High School baseball coach Hank Ibia got a pleasant surprise when an anonymous fan delivered several thousand posters touting not only the 2004 KIF Red Raider baseball season, but featuring eight of the Kaua‘i High School senior players.
“This is my first time I’ve had eight seniors on my team,” Ibia said. “And, having something like this should definitely stimulate interest in baseball.”
Printed on high-grade poster stock, Ibia said each of the players on the current team took a hundred to sell on their own, and several community businesses have picked it up so the public can acquire the poster which was inspired by the baseball posters distributed by the University of Hawai‘i through the 7-11 chain.
Pictures Plus, one of the stores in Kukui Grove is featuring the poster in its unique baseball display in one of the show windows, the poster framed in a reasonably-priced frame and displayed on an easel.
JJ’s Broiler in the Anchor Cover Shopping Center is another outlet where people can pick up the posters, or Ibia said, they can get them from any of the team’s players.
Additionally, copies of the poster surfaced during a recent meeting of Kaua‘i’s sports enthusiasts who had gathered at Starbucks to discuss the recent Super Bowl, councilman Mel Rapozo impressed with the quality of the poster and offering to take it to several places for posting.
Some of the players took time out from school to offer the posters during the recent Career Day held at the school, and Ibia said the posters will also be available at the Red-and-White Game scheduled for Feb. 21 at Vidinha Stadium.
The only change on the schedule is the cancellation of the Ron Martin tournament.
The eight featured seniors are Alec Reichle, pitcher/outfield; Garen Itamura, outfield/pitcher; Kelsey Furuike, infield; Titus Hori, infield; Shawn Ogata, outfield/pitcher; Jake Oketani, infield/pitcher; Sam Dias, outfield/pitcher; and Daryl Higashi, catcher.
One of the Kaua‘i High School teachers who saw the posters said, “This is really classy. It should make the players feel really good.”
The 2004 KIF baseball season begins on Mar. 20 when the Red Raiders travel to the Ron Martin Field to take on hosting Kapa‘a.
