Iolani School has hired new head coaches for its baseball and softball programs, effective for the 2015-16 school year, according to a press release sent out by the school.

Kurt Miyahira has been selected as the varsity baseball coach. He was the head coach of the Iolani junior varsity team for the past two years, leading the Raiders to the ILH championship this past season. Miyahira, 31, takes over from Brent Shimokawa, who stepped down after three seasons.

"I'm honored and excited to continue the rich tradition of Iolani baseball," Miyahira said. "I've really enjoyed my first two years with the program and look forward to the future. We have a great crop of kids and I've always admired Iolani players. They play the right way."

Prior to joining the Iolani program, Miyahira was a varsity baseball assistant coach at his alma mater, Mililani High School, from 2006 to 2013, under head coach Mark Hirayama. Miyahira graduated from Mililani in 2001.

Dean Yonamine will be Iolani's new varsity softball coach, continuing a long association with Raider athletics that has stretched across four decades. He takes over for Corey Okamura, who stepped down after four seasons.

No stranger to the Iolani campus, Yonamine, 50, was the varsity baseball coach for 13 seasons (1997-2009), guiding the Raiders to back-to-back HHSAA state championships in 1997 and 1998. Yonamine also led Iolani to ILH varsity baseball titles in 1997 and 2009.

More recently, Yonamine has been involved with the Iolani softball program as an assistant and head coach at various levels.

"I'm excited about the opportunity to continue the good things that have already been established with the program," said Yonamine, who is a longtime sixth-grade teacher at Iolani. "I'm also looking forward to coaching these girls, many of whom I've already worked with as students in the Lower School."

Yonamine was the starting catcher on Iolani's HHSAA state championship baseball team in 1983 and also won a pair of ILH titles (1982 and 1983), while playing for the Raiders.