Hall pass: Ian Kahaloa

Ian Kahaloa has raised the bar for baseball players in Hawaii.

A year after Jordan Yamamoto of Saint Louis and Kodi Medeiros of Waiakea thrilled scouts and fans at the state baseball tournament, Kahaloa has earned something that neither of the professional pitchers has.

Kahaloa will be inducted into the Enterprise / HHSAA Hall of Honor on June 7 at Dole Cannery Square’s Pomaikai Ballroom. He will be the first baseball player inducted since 2011 when Shea Shimabukuro got in.

But Shimabukuru excelled in football. Kahaloa kept his exploits strictly to the diamond, making him unique among those in the Hall of Honor.

Kahaloa might not be the best baseball player to come out of Hawaii, but he might be the most clutch. He split the season between JV and varsity in his sophomore year and helped the Sabers take OIA championships in both. He helped the varsity to an OIA championship in his junior year but was limited to only pitching because of a hand injury.

That didn’t stop him in the state tournament, though, as he shut out Kaiser on one hit in the second round and came back to pitch in relief the next day in a loss to Saint Louis. He snuffed out a threat with a strikeout in the sixth but gave up two runs to lose it in the seventh on a dropped fly ball on a tough play in left field with two outs.

He was named a first-team all-state pitcher by the Star-Advertiser after the season, but the loss stuck with him. After a summer of hard work, he more than atoned for it as a senior.

Kahaloa started the high school season with a no-hitter and never let up from there as more and more scouts took their seats behind the plate when he was pitching. And it was easy to know when he was on the hill, because if it was an important game they knew he would be coach Rory Pico‘s man.

After another OIA title, Kahaloa locked up with Kamehameha’s Cody Paiva in a classic duel in the semifinals, yielding only five hits and striking out 15 Warriors in 10 innings while throwing 138 pitches.

Kahaloa wasn’t just the best pitcher in the state in 2015, he was the best hitter as well and started Campbell’s rally in the 10th inning with a single off Paiva and watched his courtesy runner dash home with the winning tally on a double by Zach Kapihe.

After Kahaloa’s toughness the previous year, all eyes were on the Campbell bullpen in the state final against Mid-Pacific the next day, but Kahaloa never had to climb the mound in the Sabers’ first state championship since 1978. Kahaloa went 1-for-3 with an intentional walk with the bat in the 8-inning win over the Owls.

Kahaloa is committed to UH for next year but is expected to be drafted high in the MLB first-year player draft and turn professional.

Baseball players in the Hall of Honor
1983 Michael Fetters
1984 Carl Fraticelli
1984 Ross Kagawa
1984 Kalani Perry
1985 Aaron Sumida
1987 Bruce Ferreira
1987 Thomas Heffernan Jr.
1989 Benny Agbayani
1989 Gregory Gonsalves
1990 Kekoa Kaluhiokalani
1991 John Limahai
1991 Shon Malani
1992 Robert Medeiros
1994 Alika Smith
1994 Kahi Villa
1995 Kenn Wakakuwa
1999 Shane Victorino
2001 Mark Rodrigues
2002 Tyler Perkins
2003 Keoni Ruth
2004 Matt Bell
2004 Abel Werner
2005 Brashton Satele
2005 C.J. Tausaga
2006 Tye Perdido
2007 Reece Alnas
2008 Jeeter Ishida
2008 Kolten Wong
2009 Breland Almadova
2009 Kela Marciel
2010 Jarrett Arakawa
2011 Shea Shimabukuro
2015 Ian Kahaloa

Hall of Honor Members