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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Ryan Tsutsui contributes for Mililani on the mound, as well as at shortstop. The Trojans are No. 4 in the Star-Bulletin poll.

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Trojans look
strong in West

Way out yonder in the Wild West, staking a claim involves as much danger and work as protecting it can be.

In the Oahu Interscholastic Association baseball shootouts, the West is not a kind place to be. That hasn't stopped the Radford Rams, stocked with sophomores and a freshman in key positions, from raising hopes.

"We got 13, so they call themselves the Dirty Dozen," coach James Sunday said. "I always preach to them, we play in the toughest division in the state with Mililani, Aiea, Campbell, Pearl City, Leilehua, Waianae and so on."

That's why, after rallying from eight runs down to edge Roosevelt in a nonconference game Saturday, Sunday is completely comfortable with his youth brigade. "Coming from a transient school, this is one of the better groups I've had jelling together," the sixth-year head coach said.

That sense of unity will help every team in the West, a division that had seven league titles in the 1990s. Kailua reigned as OIA champ four years in a row before Aiea broke that streak last year.

At Aiea, the cupboard was cleaned out, so to speak. With a plethora of graduated seniors, coach Ryan Kato knows his team will have to dig deep to repeat as league champion. He won't get much pity from the other gunslingers of the West.

Mililani is ranked No. 4 in the Star-Bulletin Top 10 after posting some notable wins in nonconference play, including the Mid-Pacific/Richard Kitamura crown. Leilehua, with a handful of returning starters, is ranked eighth in the poll, and even with key losses, Aiea is No. 10.

Rankings won't matter to Kapolei coach Tom Ibanez. "The West is tough. From our standpoint, a lot of teams are tough. I saw Waipahu play St. Louis tough," he said.

The West schedule opens this afternoon when Aiea visits Waipahu. The East season begins tomorrow.

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The teams

Here's a look at the West squads:

Aiea

Coach: Ryan Kato. He has coached in the Aiea program for 10 years.
On paper: Kato enters his sixth season at the varsity helm with a group of talented players. Eight of them are returnees, though only two started last season. Lance Powell, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior, and Hoku Piho are the anchors of the pitching staff.
Powell, one of the returning starters, throws a good curve and a solid fastball. Piho is more of a spot pitcher, Kato noted, with a decent fastball and very good slider.
Left fielder Shane Koga, a junior, is the No. 5 hitter, followed by third baseman Derek Grace, also a junior. Powell plays shortstop when he isn't pitching.
Aiea was 6-6 in nonconference games.
The skinny: Center fielder C.J. Tausaga leads off. "C.J. and Lance bring leadership and experience because they played in the big games last year. They know what it takes in those games to come out on top," Kato said.
"As a whole, we have more of a team approach as opposed to the past, when we had stars. This year, everybody relies on each other," Kato said.
X factor: Tripper Chung, a junior, was going to be Aiea's long-ball threat. However, he tore his ACL during conditioning before tryouts. It was originally injured a year ago.

Campbell

Coach: Rory Pico
On paper: The Sabers are getting their fill of top competition this week, playing in a tournament in Las Vegas.
The skinny: Campbell will go as far as senior hurler Tristan Bailey's arm can take them. "At this point, they're a one-man show," a former college recruiter said.
X factor: Pico's team is in an enviable position. The spotlight is on other teams from the West, as well as the East and the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. If another starter or two can emerge to bolster the staff, the Sabers could surprise.

Kapolei

Coach: Tom Ibanez
On paper: Ibanez enters his fourth season as head coach with a big smile. He has 12 returnees, five of whom started last season. In addition, Mililani transfer Cameron San Gregory bolsters the pitching staff.
Seniors San Gregory and Jon Santiago, are battling for the No. 1 spot in the rotation. Both are finesse pitchers, Ibanez said. Senior Howard Vinhasa is in the mix.
A big boost for the lineup is Aaron Santiago, a second baseman. He hit .614 last season. Justin Purvey, a junior, will split time between first base and catching duties.
Replacing Drake Kula could have been a tough task, but the Hurricanes have talent galore.
"Our main guy is our catcher, Michael Kahalehoe. He also plays linebacker, so he's got that bulldog mentality," said Ibanez, who is the defensive coordinator for the football team. "He can be hurt and everything, but he'll stay in and play."
Kapolei went 6-7 in nonconference play.
The skinny: Last year's team had 12 players. Ibanez has 20 now. "This year, what's different is most of the kids have been with me from the start, the full four years. They kind of know what's going on now," he said.
"A lot of the games in preseason we lost just because of mistakes we made at the end, so we can learn from that," Ibanez said.
X factor: "Our main thing is, if we hit, we'll be in a lot of games. Our pitching and defense are pretty good, but our bats have been inconsistent," Ibanez said.

Leilehua

Coach: Kevin Tosaka. If his name sounds familiar, that's because he was the Mules coach for five seasons before becoming an acting vice principal. Garett Yukumoto took over for five years, and is now a vice principal.
Tosaka, now a student services coordinator, is back in the dugout. Five years away was a long time, he said. "There's so much changes. The level of the kids are at, it's better. Even some of the techniques have changed so much," he said. "Garett got them up to a different level, so we're just trying to maintain that now."
On paper: Of the eight returnees, five started last season. Among them is ace John Olley, who was 7-1 last year. Joshua Pastor and Andrew Ontai round out an all-junior rotation.
"All our pitchers, we don't have a power pitcher. They throw maybe high 70s. They all gotta change speeds," Tosaka said, noting Olley's struggles in preseason. "They all have to be control pitchers."
All three play shortstop, third base, second or center field. Ontai was a Star-Bulletin all-state second-team pick as a sophomore.
"Right now, our catcher has been doing really well," Tosaka said of senior Davin Uyeda. "Last year, he was ill, so he's never had a full season for us yet. The year before, he broke his arm. We're just hoping he stays healthy."
Leilehua went 10-5-1 in nonconference games.
The skinny: "We need to play good defense because we don't have power pitchers. The games when we've played well defensively, we won," Tosaka said.
X factor: The Mules have just three seniors, but 11 juniors. "These juniors, quite a few of them, Garett brought them along," Tosaka said. Still, he'd like to see them get more experiences in the offseason.
"Our kids, you know, some aren't exposed to enough games. We don't have a community league, so that's a big factor," he said. "And quite a few are multisport kids."

Mililani

Coach: Dean Sato. He enters his second season as head coach of the Trojans after previous stints at Hawaii Pacific and Saint Louis.
On paper: The Trojans are in Arizona, playing in the Horizon Tournament.
"When we were growing up, we didn't have the luxury of doing this. I just wanted to give back. The parents have worked hard to raise money, and the kids can see the caliber of baseball they'll face when they go to college," Sato said.
Mililani opened with an 11-10 win over Ironwood yesterday.
Twelve of the Trojans are returnees, including seven who started last year. "Everything is going according to schedule. The offseason work is paying off, the speed and agility stuff, stuff we incorporated from Cal State Fullerton," Sato said of his ties with Titans coach George Horton. "George and I are close, so we talk a lot."
Sato, who took over for Glenn Nitta before last season, has kept the bar of expectation quite high. "They've really stepped up mentally. That was my biggest concern. The philosophy is to work hard, and game time, just play," he said.
Tony Aquino has several scintillating performances against top competition in nonconference play. The senior right-hander throws an 85-mph fastball, and his curveball has been clocked at 75 mph.
Center fielder Chaz Miyashiro is adept in every phase of the game. He throws a good splitter, Sato said, and an 81-mph fastball.
The Trojans' pitching posse doesn't end there. Kelsey Nakata, who also plays second and third base, brings senior experience to the mound. "He has a sneaky fastball with a splitter that really drops out," Sato said.
Ryan "Smiley" Tsutsui, a senior who also plays short, has a good "off-the-table" curveball," Sato added.
The skinny: The key will be pitching. "We have to throw strikes and play defense. Our motto is, 'Get the job done. Work to stay ahead of the count,' " Sato said.
X factor: Dustin Antolin, a 6-foot, 160-pound freshman, is a gem in the rough. "He throws the ball just as hard as Tony. I'm trying to hide him right now," said Sato, who won't keep Antolin on the sidelines very long. "If we plan to go to the postseason, we need to get everybody ready."

Nanakuli

Coach: Joshua DeFreitas
On paper: They started with 14 players, and academic probation has cut the number to 11. Bryson Felisi, Nathan Naehu and Ainoa Oliviera are key contributors. Felisi is their strongest pitcher, while Naehu is a catcher. Oliviera is a valuable jack-of-all-trades.
The skinny: DeFreitas has also coached boys and girls basketball at Nanakuli. He inherits an inexperienced team.
X factor: "We just want to work hard and stick together," the coach said.

Pearl City

Coach: Mel Seki
On paper: Seki enters his 13th season as head coach with guarded optimism. The Chargers have eight seniors, but only one played significant innings last year. "In essence, we're an inexperienced team," he said.
Pearl City went 9-5 in nonconference competition, including a 3-1 mark at Maui High School's tournament.
The one experienced player, Casey Fujishige, moved from the outfield to shortstop this spring. Also, designated hitter Tom Yamasaki is now a first baseman.
Pearl City's top hurlers are senior Craig Calantoc and junior Jason Tamanaha. "Craig is gonna have to develop a fastball," Seki said. "Jason's had a good preseason. He's more of a curveball pitcher."
The skinny: "The key is, hopefully, the pitchers will develop as the season goes along. Offensively, I think we'll hit," Seki said. Fujishige, Yamasaki and Tate Ikehara bat third through fifth spots.
X factor: Junior center fielder Bryan Kadakura has been impressive. "The kid can fly," Seki said. "The kids have gained confidence. I'm real pleased with our preseason."

Radford

Coach: James Sunday. Now in his sixth season as varsity head coach, Sunday was a junior varsity and varsity assistant coach for five years.
On paper: The Rams have four returnees -- three started last year. They have four sophomores and a freshman.
Sunday's three-man pitching rotation is comprised of Justin Lord, Chad Afi and Sean Irish.
"Justin is more of a junk-ball pitcher. He's got a good knuckle change and he can change speeds with it a little," Sunday said. Lord also plays some third base.
Afi isn't quite a sidearmer, but he does have an unusual angle of motion. At 6-1 and more than 200 pounds, he has a "decent" fastball," Sunday noted.
Irish has a good fastball and breaking ball, the coach added.
The skinny: "They're real scrappy, they don't give up," Sunday said, referring to the Roosevelt game. "Another key for us is our pitching and defense. If we can get the hits as we go along, we'll be okay."
The Rams are on a roll. They beat Kahuku, Kaimuki and Roosevelt in Waianae's tournament over the weekend.
X factor: "We have pretty good leadership from our seniors, and especially our catcher, Kyle Howell, and outfielder Greg Suwa," Sunday said. Suwa converted to the outfield after playing second base. "With the younger players we have, we had a lack of depth in the outfield and he was willing to move there."

Waialua

Coach: Herbert Onizuka. Now in his 15th season, Onizuka knows this is a tough season ahead.
"This is my most challenging year," said Onizuka, 68.
On paper: Justin Manglalaan, Shawyn Peiler and Casey Onizuka, the coach's grandson, are carrying heavy loads. Each pitches and plays at least two other positions, including catcher.
Also in the mix are freshman Shayne Peiler, a pitcher-first baseman, and junior Derrick Nacario (first base-catcher).
The skinny: Waialua has three returnees and have 11 players total. "We're hurting. A lot of them haven't played since they were 12 years old. Most of them are three-, four-sport kids," Onizuka said.
In addition, four of Waialua's preseason games were washed out. "We only played two games," he added. "We're just going to try and compete. It would be nice if we had some baseball players. These three kids, they only play during the season," Onizuka noted.
X factor: The rest of the Bulldogs are mostly first-year players. Two of them, Daniel Rada and Socrates Menor, could miss significant time later. Both are on Waialua's cheerleading squad, which may go to a national competition this spring.

Waianae

Coach: Kekoa Kaluhiokalani
On paper: Kaluhiokalani enters his third year as Waianae's skipper. He has seven returnees, including five who started last year. The Seariders were 9-6 in nonconference games.
Senior Clinton Uyechi is the team's ace. "He throws a low- to mid-80s fastball. When we went to Kauai, he outdueled Kirby Yates. He has good command with an excellent curveball," Kaluhiokalani said.
Andy Kuakini, Darius Fuller and Liko Manuel are also expected to contribute significantly on the mound. "Andy doesn't throw as hard, but has the same kind of 12/6 curveball (as Uyechi)," Kaluhiokalani said. "Darius is our long relief guy, our third or fourth starter."
Manuel is a 6-3 junior. "He throws a fastball and a slurve. It's more like of a slider, but I call it a slurve," Kaluhiokalani said.
Middle infielder Sonny Dudoit, center fielder Charleston Low, third baseman Ranson Silva and first baseman John Munoz, all seniors, provide more spark.
The skinny: "We have to be able to stay consistent. We'll be okay because of the returnees, but teamwork was a big emphasis for our preseason," Kaluhiokalani said.
X factor: "Our catchers is a question mark. They're inexperienced," the coach added.

Waipahu

Coach: Milton Takenaka. He enters his 20th year as head coach.
On paper: The Marauders have shown signs of improvement despite having just four returnees. They're counting on pitchers Mark Peralta and Derek Kiabu. Peralta, a senior, throws a good curveball, while Kiabu mixes it up more.
Third baseman Daniel Oshiro is another key player.
The skinny: "It's going to be an on-the-job kind of thing. The rest of the guys are kind of young, yet. We're going to start one sophomore, two seniors and the rest are juniors," Takenaka said. "It's been a frustrating preseason. The kids know what mistakes they made. We just go back and keep working and try and get it straight."
X factor: "If our pitchers can hit their spots and we can play better defense, hopefully we can make the playoffs," said Takenaka, 52.