LIHUE — The softball and baseball seasons haven’t thrown their first pitches, but already, three students from Kauai High School have committed to playing for college. Wednesday evening, Micah Layosa signed a letter of intent to play baseball for the
LIHUE — The softball and baseball seasons haven’t thrown their first pitches, but already, three students from Kauai High School have committed to playing for college.
Wednesday evening, Micah Layosa signed a letter of intent to play baseball for the Hawaii Pacific University. On the softball field, Aleigha “Red” Scovel came right after soccer practice with Caley Caires, Scovel signing a letter of intent to play softball for the University of Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans and Caires being announced by coach Penny Vess as being a preferred walk on for the Vulcans.
“She’s already on the team,” Vess said. “She’s going to walk on, but is already been accepted. This is a rare instance, but colleges do have preferred walk on. What this means is that there is no scholarships. She is a regular student at the University of Hawaii-Hilo for the first year, but she’s already been accepted on the team.”
Layosa said he was glad to sign his letter to HPU.
“This is a very good Division II school — academically and in its baseball program,” Layosa said. “I feel really good about going to HPU. I worked hard, both in the classroom and on the field and I’m glad to see all that hard work pay off.”
Ranee Layosa, Micah’s mom, is equally excited about Micah’s future at HPU.
“It’s close to home so the family can watch him play and grow,” she said. “We know that HPU is a good school, and it’s gratifying to see Micah’s hard work pay off. He deserves it.”
Vess said she was happy to see the students get accepted into college programs.
“Playing in college is something you cannot trade the experience for anything,” said Vess, a former collegiate player herself. “Our college team, we still keep in touch with each other, and 10 years from now, we can still go back to the field and talk like it was just yesterday.”
Caires, known for her slap drag on the Kauai Interscholastic Federation fields, was signed on for that aspect of the game as well as her speed.
“This is exciting,” Vess said. “When she started, she was a right-handed hitter, but we trained her and she came around.”
Clyde Caires, Caley’s dad, was also happy with her accomplishment.
“We’re proud of her,” he said. “When she went down to practice with the team in October, they liked her slap. This is something we never had in my days, so we’re very happy and proud of her. During the community ball days, coaches had her playing infield from the days she played Under 10. When she went out in high school, they moved her to centerfield where her speed allowed her to chase down balls quickly and get it back into the infield.”
Scovel, another multi-sport student-athlete, was pleased to practice with the Vulcan team.
“I feel blessed to be able to sign this letter, and I’m ready,” she said.
Leah Scovel, Aleigha’s mother, said during practice the Vulcan coaches let Red practice shortstop, and all the girls stopped what they were doing and ended up cheering her on because the coaches were hitting her, everywhere.
“They hit left and Red would lean in on the catch and make the throw,” Leah said. “Then, they hit her, right. They were hitting her, everywhere and the other girls ended up cheering her on.”
Leah said she likes the University of Hawaii-Hilo because it fits Aleigha.
“They have smaller class settings and have a lot of hands-on,” Leah said. “Red likes hands-on. They also play softball like the coaches did before — the old-fashioned way. We’re very proud of her because she’s the first Scovel-Dotario to get a scholarship.”
Layosa said he wants to express his appreciation to all of his coaches from T-Ball through high school and the travel team, and Americans of Japanese Ancestry baseball.
“I also want to thank my family for all their support,” he said. “This would not be happening without all the coaches and my family’s faith and support.”
Scovel also had her mahalo list.
“I think I did great in practice with the Vulcans,” she said. “My thanks go out to my family, Coach Vess, Coach Elena Kealoha, Cassie Wong, Kitty Borrero, the Iwata family, and my grandpa Stanley Dotario. I don’t want to forget my sister Jenna who helped me with practice since we were young.”
