Kamehameha baseball head coach Daryl Kitagawa says he's the type of manager that likes to give in-game reps to a variety of players and not just the nine guys in the starting lineup.
"I want to play a lot of guys and give everybody an experience," he explains. "High school baseball is for us to provide an atmosphere and environment for them to flourish. I mean, yeah, we try to win games of course, but it's about fun, and giving these kids lifetime memories moving forward."
In 2025, that strategy will be matched with a pitching staff considered one of the deepest in Hawai‘i high school baseball history.
Among the 15 pitchers Kitagawa has at his disposal, the Warriors boast four active senior hurlers that signed with an NCAA school in Nevada — signees Greyson Osbun and Kainoa "Kaikai" Kaneshiro, as well as Elai Iwanaga (UCLA) and Logan Sanchez (UH-Hilo), a true embarrassment of riches as far as prep baseball in the islands is concerned. Although another senior in USC signee Alaka‘i Kiakona is out for the season as he recovers from surgery, burgeoning star sophomore Pono Kong is set to feature prominently into the mix.
"Having a stable of arms is obviously beneficial to me, so we'll manage it, use it as best we can, try to get as much guys as we can in," said Kitagawa, who has been the head coach for the Warriors since 2019. "I've been very, very blessed since we've been up here to have a lot of pitching."
Thirteen pitchers saw action in the preseason for the Warriors, which included the program's second trip to North Texas in as many years.
Kamehameha squeezed in six games in three days at the 2025 Five Tool High School Baseball festival from Feb. 27-March 1, going 3-3 in games played across the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. The event featured 32 schools from a total of seven states. Maryknoll also went and finished 0-4.
Multiple MLB scouts were present in Kamehameha's 2-1 win over Houston Memorial, the No. 10 team in Texas according to MaxPreps. Iwanaga got the win with six shutout innings, striking out seven with a low-90s fastball and sweeping slider. Kaneshiro pitched the seventh inning and got the save, featuring velocity and spin similar to that of Iwanaga. Meanwhile, Sanchez notched a save in a 4-2 win over Arlington Heights.
"We have great team chemistry here," Iwanaga said. "Everyone just lifts each other up. It's great to have all these boys behind me when I'm on the mound."
On Kamehameha's roster, Iwanaga has drawn the most professional interest. The 6-footer has been told by scouts he has a projectable frame, as well as intriguing pitch design.
"It's been kind of a new experience for me," Iwanaga said. "But I don't let it get to my head. I just go out there and throw and be my same old, same old."
Although his fastball registers a few ticks below the numbers Iwanaga and Kaneshiro flash, Osbun has been the ace of the staff his he was a sophomore. In a 5-1 win over Argyle at the Five Tool Festival, he struck out five in six innings, showing elite command of his repertoire, which also includes a changeup, curveball and slider. Osbun is also the reigning ILH pitcher of the year, having shared the award with Mid-Pacific's Payton Dixon in 2024.
When Kamehameha began ILH play on Tuesday against Punahou at Central O‘ahu Regional Park, Osbun got the starting nod and dominated. He tossed five no-hit innings, allowing only a walk to go with his eight strikeouts as the Warriors beat the Buffanblu 3-0. Kaneshiro recorded the final five outs to get the save, while Kingston Lee's two RBI lifted Kamehameha offensively.
On Thursday, Iwanaga took the ball against Pac-Five and was flawless, striking out 11 in six innings without allowing a hit, run or walk in his 75 pitches. Kaneshiro picked up another save in a 3-1 win as the Warriors improved to 2-0.
With the HHSAA Tournament set for Maui in the middle of May, Kitagawa says his pitchers won't go as deep into games in the early portion of the season as he tries to build up pitch counts across his staff. Osbun only threw 59 pitches on Tuesday, well within the HHSAA limit of 110.
"It's about managing egos and talent and workload. My instruction to them, especially in the first half of the ILH season is you maybe go one, two times through the lineup and the next guy is up, regardless if you're throwing a perfect game," Kitagawa said. "Stats and all those accolades don't mean much to me. It's really about the team and getting other guys in and managing pitch counts and innings and what have you.
"It's open communication. They know that as well. They know even though they're throwing a no-no or a perfect game, it's time to come out. They're good about that, and it's just my job to communicate with them as well and make sure there's a two-way communication back and forth with them."
After winning the state title in 2023, Kamehameha was edged by Baldwin in the state semifinals in 2024. In 2025, the Warriors are viewed as the early favorites.
"After that day, we all decided that that's not going to happen again, and we don't want that to happen, so we took that as an opportunity for ourselves to take each day not for granted, and work every single day," Kaneshiro said. "I think on top of that, we built a bigger chemistry together."
Although the ILH only has three slots in the 12-team HHSAA tournament, Kitagawa has coached the Warriors to the state tournament every year since he got the job.
"The goal is to just make it to states and then see what happens after that, but that's not easy," Kitagawa said. "It's hard to qualify for states. We're just gonna try and put our best foot forward again."
In order to get one of the league's three slots, the Warriors will have to an endure an ILH gauntlet that features some of the country's best hitters in ‘Iolani's Mana Lau Kong and Judah Ota, as well as other star shortstops in Pac-Five's Alika Ahu and Bruin Agbayani of Saint Louis. Scouts will continue to show up to the islands in droves to watch the talent-rich classes of 2025 and 2026.
"We're super excited to face the best," Osbun said. "I think that's what we always want to do."
The quest for Kamehameha's sixth state baseball title is underway. If the Warriors were to accomplish that goal in May, they will likely have done so behind an experienced pitching staff that features players wearing Kamehameha jerseys for the last time before ascending to the next step in their respective baseball careers.
"I think the pride, it helps us win. I think it encourages us to win a lot more because we carry this name, Kamehameha, that carries so many names and people," Osbun said. "Playing for us, playing for the lāhui, playing for the Hawaiian community, we represent so much more than just us. ... The pride helps us win. And winning is fun, and we enjoy that."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
