Hilo’s Maui Ahuna owns a spot on the all-Big 12 baseball team, two entries on “SportsCenter” Top 10 plays, high rankings on 2023 Major League Baseball Draft prospect lists and a spot in the transfer portal.
After flirting with hitting .400 during a banner sophomore season at Kansas, Ahuna entered the portal Monday, DI Baseball reported. An attempt by the Tribune-Herald to reach Ahuna on Monday was unsuccessful.
His entry into the transfer database comes after coach Ritch Price announced his retirement after 20 seasons at the helm of the Jayhawks, who ended the season on an eight-game losing streak and failed to reach the Big 12 tournament.
Ahuna finished the season batting .396, the highest by a Jayhawk since 1997. Presumably, he could transfer to a school and play one season in a bid to become the first Hawaii-born player drafted in the first round since Waiakea alum Kodi Medeiros in 2014.
“He’s got a chance to be the best player in program history,” Price, who finished with a 581-558-3 (.510) record at Kansas, told a Kansas television station earlier this year. “We’ve been really fortunate. I’ve coached 75 guys or so who have signed pro contracts, and we’ve had six or seven guys who have played in the big leagues since I’ve been here.”
According to DI Baseball, the 20-year-old Ahuna is the 36th-best major league prospect in his class, and he’s ranked No. 4 in the Big 12, according to Baseball America.
The 2020 Hilo Hilo grad missed on a chance to win a state title his senior season because of the pandemic. It’s one he coveted because it would have matched the one his father, Walter, won with the Vikings in 1985. He also likely missed a chance to be selected by a major league team when that year’s draft was shortened to five rounds and 160 selections (Waiakea alum Kalai Rosario went with pick No. 158).
Ahuna didn’t miss much in the batter’s box or on the field at Kansas. Ending the season on a 20-game hit streak, he was named to the all-Big 12 first team at shortstop Tuesday after finishing second in the league in hitting, fourth in OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) and third in hits and triples with eight home runs, 48 RBIs and 14 steals, starting 53 of his team’s 55 games. In April, Ahuna led the country in batting average for a short stretch, getting as high as .453. As a freshman, he was honorable mention all-Big 12, hitting .316.
“Hopefully, I’m making you guys proud. I love Hawaii,” Ahuna told a television interviewer earlier this season. “That’s my home and always will be, and I want you guys to be proud.”
The Jayhawks just finished a 4-20 season in the Big 12, and a 30-3 loss May 14 at Texas Christian was worse than the blowouts Hilo used to inflict on teams during Ahuna’s playing days. He was the BIIF player of the year in 2019 as the Vikings swept Waiakea in the BIIF championship series.
“I’m a humble person, so I really don’t brag about my average ,” he said. “I just do me, play baseball and have fun.”
ESPN’s “SportsCenter” twice has done the talking for him this season for work with the glove. His second Top 10 play was aired Saturday when he dove in the hole to field a grounder and threw out a Texas runner at first.
