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Castle opens Kauhane era at Roosevelt Saturday




The Castle baseball program has always had a special place in Shane Kauhane's heart and now it's in his hands.

Kauhane, a 1996 Castle graduate, embarks on his first season as head coach of his alma mater, ascending to the role after serving an assistant under interim coach John Hao last season.

"It's been good so far," Kauhane said. "There's still your basic challenges, getting to know the boys and the types of characters, but the good thing is we have a lot of talent so that makes it easy. We definitely have a lot of arms on the pitching side, so it's just about getting the boys to play as a team and not as an individual."

Kauhane, who played on the team that won the Knights' lone state championship in 1994 under legendary coach Joe Tom Jr., is eager to restore the program to its former glory.

"For me, it's just trying to rebuild the baseball program that we once had, especially in the ‘90s. A bunch of us (on the coaching staff), we all played for that '94 state championship team, so we know how it felt and we definitely just want to be that dominant team again. That's what I feel like we need to do, bring this school back to prominence, back to where it was before."

Castle finished fifth in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I East standings last season and went one-and-out in the league tournament with a loss to Leilehua in the first round.

Kauhane inherits a relatively young team, with just six seniors on a roster of 20 players. He said having familiarity with most of the boys should help ease the coaching transition.

"It definitely does, especially on the coaching staff side, they know what to expect when we came on board, they knew what type of coaches we are," Kauhane said. "It was good because a lot of the guys that returned, they knew exactly what we expected of them and they passed that down to the underclassmen."

The Knights are expected to be strong up the middle defensively with second baseman Austyn Acosta, shortstop Kalai Cabana-Zukeran and center fielder Jordan Muraoka.

"Kalai is looking really good this year, he's definitely a potential first-teamer and Jordan Muraoka is a pretty shut down center fielder for us," Kauhane said.

Among the plethora of arms Kauhane can give the ball to are juniors Fabian Silva-Pokipala, Keegan Kamaunu and Baron Arquero. Silva-Pokipala and Kamaunu, a pair of left-handers, will also share duties at first base, while Arquero will see lots of time in right field.

"Baron is kind of that all-around guy, he can do everything and hit. Fabian and Keegan, their main focus will be pitching," Kauhane said.

Pitching depth will be a strength for Castle this season.

"We're sitting about five deep left-handers and about five, six right-handers and most can start at any time," Kauhane said. "They're definitely a scrappy, scrappy bunch of kids — sometimes just a little bit too scrappy — but they're fighters, so they'll be out there giving us their all and playing to the end."

Silva-Pokipala will get the start on the mound for the Knights in their regular-season opener against Roosevelt (1-0) Saturday.

Rough Riders coach AD Mols admittedly doesn't know much about this year's Castle squad, but he is sure of one thing.

"They're pretty scrappy and they're usually always a good test for us," Mols said. "We always play them tough. They have a new coach, I don't know him personally, so I don't know what kind of team they're gonna run."

Roosevelt is coming off a sixth place finish in the OIA D1 East last year. Like the Knights, they saw their season come to a close with a first-round exit in the league tournament following a loss to eventual-champion Mililani.

Mols, now in his fourth season as head coach, is hoping this will be the pay-off year for his team.

"By now they know the program, they know what's going on and we're hoping they play smart baseball. Everybody says that and everybody wants to do that, but we've been working on situations and those things and I'm hoping this senior class will carry us because the communication in years past has been tough. Everything felt like it was coming from the dugout not the field, but I think we got a team that is more comfortable with each other and I think they like each other, which always helps," Mols said.

Mols will lean on the top four hitters in his lineup — center fielder Chase Iwamuro, pitcher/infielder Hostas Pang, second baseman Rylan Terakawa and shortstop Ty Taguchi — for much of that leadership.

"We're expecting a lot from them. Rylan has been with us all four years on the varsity and Hostas will play infield this year, maybe even some outfield," Mols said.

Pang pitched in the Rough Riders' season opener Wednesday and logged a complete-game victory in a 9-5 win over perennial powerhouse Kailua.

"It feels great, just for their confidence," Mols said of the road win. "Obviously last year we kind of had a rough year, so to start off with a win and get some confidence was huge. Last year we had just one senior, (but) this year we're senior-heavy, so we're looking for them to take control. They're not gonna be as shook easily and that's what we're hoping for."

Mols said for his squad to experience success this season, it will require a true team effort.

"We don't really have anybody that we can just kind go to, there's no go-to hitter, or no ace. I mean, Hostas is our best strike thrower and our second guy (Zach Tanabe), same thing, he's a strike thrower, so we know we're going to be in some games this year. The score might be like 7-5, but we'll try to put the ball in play and let our defense work. The good thing is we've got these kids from their freshman year, so that's been a nice thing," Mols said.

Roosevelt hung tough with Interscholastic League of Honolulu members Mid-Pacific, Saint Francis and Punahou in the preseason.

"Mid-Pac we stayed close with them until the fourth or fifth (inning) and then they just pulled away at the end, but that gave our guys some confidence and then Punahou we played to a 3-3 tie, so that gave them some confidence as well, so we've been playing some good ball in the preseason, but we're still fighting the injury bug a little bit," Mols said.

Tanabe, a sophomore right-hander, is among those on the mend. He sustained an injury to his throwing hand in the weight room earlier in the week that required stitches. Mols said Tanabe is his scheduled starting pitcher for Saturday, but if he cannot go, Roosevelt will staff the game by committee.

"It's kind of been that way for these guys. We've been moving guys around, all the pitchers play positions, so it's kinda like sandlot ball, but they've accepted that and they're having fun with it and now they're just playing baseball, which is good," Mols said. "Anything can happen at the high school level — grades, injury, family trip — but I think we should be able to compete this year and that's encouraging."

Castle swept both meetings against Roosevelt last season by scores of 4-2 and 5-3.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Stevenson Middle School.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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