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First things first His friends have probably been hearing it from their mothers for years.
Kailua first baseman
Jarid Kawamoto says
school is important, tooBy Marc Dixon
mdixon@starbulletin.com"Why can't you be more like Jarid?"
And although Jarid's friends are probably sick of hearing it, their mothers have good reason to wish that their own could be as successful and driven on and off the baseball field as Jarid Kawamoto.
Last May, in the bottom of the seventh inning of the state championship game, Kawamoto drilled a line drive to center field off Honolulu Star-Bulletin All-State Pitcher of the Year and current University of Hawaii pitcher Ricky Bauer. The walk-off single ended one of the most exciting and improbable championship rallies in recent memory as the Kailua Surfriders scored seven runs in the final two innings to upset top-seed Mid-Pacific.
Before last season, Kailua's last banner year was 1969 and although Kawamoto relives that one shining moment frequently, he is already looking forward to the opportunity to duplicate the feat.
"I just watched the tape the other night," said the second-year varsity starter. "But what I really want is for the team to do well this year and for us to get a chance to repeat."
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In 2001, the 5-foot-10, 170-pounder earned All-State and OIA East honorable mention honors. Kawamoto went 4-for-4 with a home run and seven RBIs in an OIA playoff opening round game against Pearl City."He's a ballplayer," said Kailua Coach Corey Ishigo. "He's at the field every day. He's the last guy to leave and he's always looking to get better."
Bettering himself is not a task that is confined to the ball field. Kawamoto is also slated to be Kailua's 2002 valedictorian, sporting a GPA higher than 4.0.
"School comes first, that's what I've always thought," said Kawamoto. "Coach understands and he lets me take care of the school stuff and come to practice late if I need to."
Kawamoto's favorite subject is math and for now the National Honor Society (NHS) member is taking AP (Advanced Placement) calculus and AP physics and looking at a career in computer engineering. Kawamoto scored a 1320 on his SAT and now finds himself in the unusual situation of being eligible to receive an academic or athletic scholarship.
"I've been contacted by Fresno State and Dartmouth," said Kawamoto. "And I applied to Hawaii, USC, UCLA and Washington."
Kawamoto has already been accepted to Hawaii, Washington and USC but has not yet reached a decision.
As an NHS member, Kawamoto performs regular community service and at the start of this school year, the left-handed hitting first baseman took it upon himself to start another project. Three mornings a week for 90 minutes, Kawamoto goes to Kailua Elementary to tutor first graders in reading, writing and other academics.
Said Kawamoto: "My auntie is the teacher there and I thought it would be a good experience. It makes me feel good knowing that you taught the kids something. It almost makes me want to be a teacher."
If given the choice, Kawamoto said he would rather hit .400 than score 1,600 on his SAT and he may need to for Kailua to defend their state championship and back-to-back OIA titles. Last year's Player of the Year Kawika Kekaula is gone as is All-State first teamer Mike Cathcart.
Kailua does have 2001 All-State utility player Kamaile Santos back and Ishigo is counting on Santos, Kawamoto and a handful of others to lead Kailua.
"We've got some pitchers -- Chad Kajiyama and Kamaile -- and a good bunch of athletes," said Ishigo. "We can run, we can hit and we can throw but we still need to bring out the baseball flair."
Ishigo, last season's Star-Bulletin Coach of the Year, has his eye on a few OIA teams but states that it's up to his team to take decide their own future.
"There's a lot of good teams in the OIA," said Ishigo.
"There's Aiea, Moanalua, Pearl City, Mililani. Leilehua is playing well. But we can't be concerned about anybody else. We just have to do what we have to do and prepare ourselves that way."
Kailua opens the OIA season today with Windward rival Castle and while other teams may use the Surfriders' pennant as motivation, Ishigo will not use last year to fire up his guys.
"Burn the tape," Ishigo joking told Kawamoto.
"Last year was last year, it's all over, this is a new beginning."
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