Friday, March 20, 1998
Iolani still ILH’s
By Pat Bigold
team to beat
Star-BulletinTwo-time defending state high school baseball champion Iolani lost a plane-load of talent to graduation, but the Raiders are still the team to catch.
Iolani and the rest of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu it dominated with a 20-1 record last year open the season tomorrow with four games.
The Raiders (8-5-1 in preseason) are ranked No. 16 in USA Today's "Super 25" preseason poll despite the loss of all-star starters Keoni DeRenne (shortstop), Danny Kimura (outfield/infield), Greg Omori (second base), Corin Korenaga (outfield), and left-handed pitcher Ryan Yamamoto.
But Iolani head coach Dean Yonamine said his pitching might be better than last year with a staff led by 6-foot-1, 180-pound left-hander Kainoa Fong, who was 6-0 in last year's regular season.
His ERA was under 2.00 last year and he started the state championship game.
Fong has been out all preseason with a sore arm and it is not known when he will be back, according to Yonamine.
The rest of the staff are right-handers Marvin Wong, Eric Yamamoto and Ethan Wayne.
The Raiders return seven seniors -- three of them as starters: Scott Tajima (catcher), a second-team ILH all-star; Jeff Iwashita (first base), and Marvin Wong (shortstop).
The offense generated by DeRenne (he batted .519) and Kimura, who set the ILH single-season home run record last year (nine), will hard to replace.
"We never had a team like last year," said Yonamine, referring to the fact that the Raiders became known as a long-ball hitting team. "But this year, we're back to the old Iolani style of bunting around and trying to score one run at a time."
Who will be challenging the Raiders?
St. Louis, which returns much of a young team, will be tough.
Junior first baseman Chad Santos, junior shortstop Jandon Thornton-Murray, and sophomore left-fielder Toi Murray-Thornton are the key returnees, while the Crusaders have a solid and experienced pitching staff.
Murray-Thornton and Kent Morimatsu are right-handers while Santos and 6-6 Kapena Lum are lefties.
Kamehameha will also be in the hunt along with Punahou and Mid-Pacific.
Kamehameha graduated the state's most celebrated player, catcher Dane Sardinha. The task of succeeding him falls to senior Jesse Aloy.
Kamehameha also lost one of the state's best pitchers, Lanakila Niles. But the Warriors return slugger Paki Lum, who will play the infield, and Sardinha's brother, Duke, at shortstop.
State runner-up Punahou will be looking for a boost from talented returning outfielder Blair Suzuki, while Mid Pacific could be a dark horse with its fundamental style of play.
An interesting addition to the ILH is former University High and University of Hawaii star Kenny Harrison, who is the new head coach of University High/Hawaii Baptist Academy.