On this day in 1986, Shane Ogawa struck out 15 batters and defending champion and top seed Hilo throttled Castle 7-0 in the second round of the state baseball tournament.
Ogawa allowed only two hits (Both to Darren Oshiro) and pitched around three errors. Hilo’s state run ended with an 11-9 loss to Iolani the next day, and Ogawa had two hits and four RBIs. Vikings coach Buzzy Capellas remarked after the game that all his team had to do to win was get by Iolani because he would have Ogawa on the mound for the final.
Iolani beat Baldwin in the final. Ogawa started the third-place game against Kaiser and threw three scoreless innings in a 5-4 loss.
Ogawa went on to be the state player of the year and was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers. He jetted off to the Helena Gold Sox in the Pioneer League and crafted a 5-1 record in 13 appearances for a team that included five future major leaguers including a 17-year old Gary Sheffield.
Ogawa hurt his arm, though, and missed the next two years and 1990 he was out of the game. Ogawa was suspended and sent home to Hilo for showing up to spring camp weighing a reported 247 pounds (after carrying 190 before the injury) and without a ‘good attitude towards the game,’ according to Brewers assistant minor league farm director Judd Schemmel.
Ogawa’s older brother, Vince, died in August of that year due to ‘stomach complications.’ Shane Ogawa didn’t show up in another box score until 1992 as the winning pitcher in a Big Island AJA game.
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