COLORADO SPRINGS — Waiakea High School alumnus Trayden Tamiya made history this week, becoming the first ever Air Force baseball player to receive a Gold Glove from the American Baseball Coaches Association.
“It’s something you work toward, and it’s such a big reward,” said Tamiya. “To hear my name with that was a dream, but it’s easy to envision that when you have good role models to follow. Especially in the town of Hilo, you have guys like Kolten Wong — who’s been there, made it and done that.
Winning an award made me really feel appreciative for the community and my coaches —Warren Arakaki, Kainoa Correa just to name a few. It wasn’t an individual effort, it was a community effort by far and this award was definitely impacted by a lot of people.”
Tamiya — who was nominated as a Gold Glove finalist alongside Indiana State’s Josue Urdaneta and UC-Irvine’s Will Bermudez — was renowned for his playmaking abilities at second base.
The Hilo local’s .992 fielding percentage was the highest among all Mountain West middle infielders, recording just two errors in 243 chances.
Also responsible for 26 double plays, Tamiya’s 164 assists were second in the Mountain West — trailing teammate Aerik Joe by a single out despite 26 fewer fielding opportunities.
The now-Second Lieutenant provided nine assists in Air Force’s 12-6 win over San Diego State on March 26, the most assists by a player in the Mountain West in a single game this season.
At Waiakea, Tamiya was an All-BIIF First Team selection and a ScoringLive All-Hawaii Honorable Mention during his senior year — when WHS won the BIIF Championship. As a Warrior, he played alongside UH-Hilo standout Casey Yamauchi and Rainbow Warrior Stone Miyao.
Tamiya said that he hopes his accomplishments, along with those of Big Island baseball players before him, will inspire local youths.
“That’s always one of the cool things about getting to play at the collegiate level,” Tamiya said, “having kids and people follow you. I feel really thankful for that. Hopefully it puts them in the right direction to keep working hard, and I know all of them, especially in Hilo have been working hard. Just trust God’s plan and everything will happen for a reason.”
Tamiya graduated high school in 2018 as his class’ valedictorian with four time academic honors.
In 2019, he redshirted at UH-Hilo before transfering to Air Force in the fall, then sat out in 2020 per NCAA transfer rules.
In 2022 — his junior year with Air Force — Tamiya started all 61 games at second base, was named to the Austin Regional All-Tournament Team, posted a .985 fielding percentage in 260 chances, contributed to 35 double plays and was a Mountain West All-Academic Team selection.
This season, Air Force went 28-31 overall and 17-13 in Mountain West play before losing to San Jose State in the final round of the conference championship.
2023 Gold Glove Recipients
P: Tanner Hall, Southern Mississippi
C: Grant Magill, Indiana State
1B: Stephen Klein, Samford
2B: Trayden Tamiya, Air Force
3B: Sabin Cevallos, Oregon
SS: Jim Jarvis, Alabama
OF: Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
OF: Dylan Crews, LSU
OF: Ethan O’Donnell, Virginia
