“If you come, we will win.”
– Kallen Miyataki
Not many people were calling UH-Hilo baseball coach Kallen Miyataki a soothsayer during his first five years on the job, but a lot can change in just one season.
Among the believers he won over were most of the Pacific West Conference, anyone who ever shook their head at the now former losingest program in college baseball and Waiakea alum Casey Yamauchi, the recipient of the recruiting pitch above.
In Yamauchi’s first season, the Vulcans won for the first time since 1992.
“That was a shock to me,” Yamauchi said, “because Coach Kal basically was a prophet. He told the future.”
And what does the future hold for 2020?
No bold pronouncements just yet.
“I’m just happy that everything is moving in a positive direction,” Miyataki said. “I think for us, our expectation is to try and do better than the year before.
“It’s funny, we have to flush (away) last season. We’re moving on. It’s a new year.”
In fact – and he tells his boosters this – he’s prouder that the program had 13 seniors earn degrees last season than he is that the Vulcans finally graduated to winning baseball. Sure, there were a few here-we-go-again moments early on and midseason, but the Vulcans reeled off 13 consecutive wins in a 26-19 campaign that snapped a string of 26 consecutive losing seasons.
UHH finished second in the PacWest in a feel-good story of a campaign that nevertheless left some with a sour taste in their mouth. There is unfinished business to attend to after the Vulcans failed to garner an invite to West Regionals.
“My main goal, or our whole goal here is to make it to the playoffs since we got snubbed last year,” Kobie Russell said. “To win the PacWest, basically.
“I think they snubbed us because for our past.”
And there’s the rub. For a program that couldn’t sniff a winning season until just recently, now only championships will suffice.
That’s one of Miyataki’s grandest accomplishments — expectations have been raised, on the outside as well.
“I would hope that people look at us different now that we did a lot better,” catcher Jaryn Kanbara said. “Everyone did their part. We were hungry to win.”
In typical Hilo fashion, preseason camp was to start Jan. 10 before rampant rain wiped out a good portion of the first week.
If any Vulcans had forgotten the key to success here is the constant, never-ending, day-to-day grind, they were reminded two weekends ago as they worked to manicure the field at Wong Stadium.
“This is Hilo, and you have to let them know that psychologically this is what every team faces when you come to Hilo,” Miyataki said. “Teams come and say, ‘Are we really going to come play in this weather?’ I say, “Yes, we are.”’
More than a third of the players on the preseason roster of 46 were newcomers, and the leadership roles this season shift to players such as Russell and closer John Kea.
Championships aren’t won in the fall, but Russell liked the team’s look during offseason workouts.
“The way everybody works and their work ethic, there’s no guys just taking it easy,” he said. “Every day is a competitive sport, all the way down to who gets to rake the field to us running out to our positions or scrimmaging each other. I think that’s what makes me think we can beat everybody in the PacWest.”
The schedule appears more conducive to so this season since the Vuls get Azusa Pacific and Point Loma – the PacWest’s 2019 regional representatives – at Wong Stadium, as well as Concordia and Biola, who also had winning seasons last year.
UHH did well to take three of four at Point Loma, but the Vuls were happy that what happened in Azusa stayed in Azusa – the Cougars swept four games by a combined score of 52-5. In a nutshell, it’s best to get the Cougars at home.
“We know that people are going to gun for us, we know the people that we beat (last year),” Miyataki said. “I don’t know where (the coaches) are going to place us (in the preseason PacWest poll), we’re going to give everybody a run for their money.”
UHH’s first road trip in early February includes a quick two-game set at UH-Manoa, a series that not only will provide the Vulcans’ players with a thrill but also enhance the team’s nonconference strength of schedule and, in turn, their regional resume.
Yamauchi, meanwhile, has become a bit of a trend-setter as three of his former Waiakea teammates – pitchers Rysen Ross, Ty Honda and Cody Hirata – have joined him, which was just what Miyataki predicted.
“Coach Kal said if you come and you win more guys are going to come,” Yamauchi said. “I always wondered why local guys didn’t come, and it was because it was a losing program, they didn’t want to come. But one season changed all that and now everyone wants to come.”
Since Miyataki proved prophetic last season, Russell figured he’d take his turn at reading his crystal ball.
What does the future hold for UHH baseball?
“We’re on the rise, that’s all you need to know,” he said. “The next time you interview us, it will be about winning the PacWest.”
