Sam Delos Reyes has been at a lot of big games recently.
The Campbell athletic director watched the Sabers football team just miss making the state Division I tournament, and then saw the boys basketball team lose by just two points, 29-27, in the state D-I semifinals.
Delos Reyes was there on Friday night at Central Oahu Regional Park to watch the Campbell softball team deliver an 11-1 victory over Kapolei. That win was a bounce-back effort for the Sabers, who are the top-ranked team in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Top 10 but lost a 6-5 squeaker to Mililani on Tuesday, the day the latest poll came out.
And Delos Reyes will be in Mililani at 11 a.m. Saturday to see the Campbell baseball team in a first-place OIA West duel against the Trojans.
Both teams are 6-0, with Campbell at No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser’s rankings and Mililani at No. 3.
“It’s going to be a zoo,” Delos Reyes said Friday about Saturday’s encounter.
He was referring to the atmosphere expected, with so much on the line and with lots of major league scouts, no doubt, in attendance.
The scouts will be there to watch Campbell right-hander Ian Kahaloa, who has been steamrolling through his starts.
It will be interesting to see what the No. 3 team in the state can put up against him.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Delos Reyes said about the scouts flocking to see Kahaloa pitch. “The difference nowadays is they’re coming over from the mainland. They used to send scouts (to see various prospects) who were based here in Hawaii.”
When asked if the scouts’ interest was similar to when Jerome Williams (veteran major leaguer now with the Phillies; 48-54 in nine seasons since 2003) was pitching for Waipahu in the late 1990s, Delos Reyes didn’t hesitate to see there is way more buzz now.
“On the gun, he (Kahaloa) is popping 93 to 96 miles per hour and sometimes it’s up to 98,” said Delos Reyes, who was working at Waipahu when Williams pitched for the Marauders. “Jerome was clocking in at 92, 93.”
All 30 teams have shown interest in Kahaloa, according to the pitcher himself and Sabers coach Rory Pico.
Readers, will you be there Saturday?
First pitch is 11 a.m. at Mililani High School. There is no admission charge.
If you are a true baseball fan, not many excuses will suffice.
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