• Editor’s note: This is the third article of a three-part series previewing the KIF baseball season. KAPA‘A — At any level of baseball, the goal for a team is to dominant all facets of the game. The teams of
• Editor’s note: This is the third article of a three-part series previewing the KIF baseball season.
KAPA‘A — At any level of baseball, the goal for a team is to dominant all facets of the game. The teams of the KIF are no exception, each working hard to hone its pitching, defensive and offensive skills.
Although dominance is the goal, it appears each school has different strengths. The Kapa‘a Warriors have been praised early on for the ability and depth of its pitching rotation.
One of the oldest sayings in baseball is “Good pitching beats good hitting.”
And despite the praise his staff has received so far, Warrior Head Coach Bryan Aiwohi is not satisfied and recognizes that there is more work to be done.
“We got guys that can throw strikes,” Aiwohi said. “I see a lot of room for improvement. They did well in the preseason at times, but when they made their mistakes, they paid for it. They are coming along. They are about on schedule of where we want them to be. We still have a lot more to go because Waimea and Kaua‘i can hit, and if you make a mistake they will make you pay. You have to make your pitches work or those two teams will punish you.”
Pitching depth is not the only strength on the Warrior roster.
Although Kapa‘a has lost three seniors who were some of the team’s biggest producers from last season, Kapa‘a hopes to compete this year with not only its pitching staff, but with the depth of its roster as a whole.
“We try create competition at every position,” Aiwohi said. “We are two or three deep at almost every position. I tell the boys that I choose my starters during the week, and I try to create that competition that will push every player to get better because there is someone on their back, and that makes the whole team better.”
Aiwohi noted in order for Kapa‘a to win it all, it has to compete against Kaua‘i and Waimea’s winning programs.
“One of our goals is it to make sure we are in every game,” Aiwohi said. “ We have to try and not make mistakes, and when they do, we have to exploit them.”
In trying to establish a winning culture, Aiwohi has instilled in his players minds that they need to get better every day in everything that they do on the practice field.
“They got to conceive it, then they got to believe it, then they have to go out and achieve it, that’s what I believe,” Aiwohi said. “The main thing I tell the boys is never stop trying to get better.”
