When Dane Fujinaka saw Bronson Rivera's name pop up in the NCAA transfer portal, he was ecstatic. He had found his guy.
Rivera just didn't know it yet.
Fujinaka, the fourth-year baseball head coach at Hawai‘i Pacific, had been a longtime admirer of Rivera and his sweet left-handed swing. Rivera, a Konawaena High School alumnus, played sparingly at the University of Hawai‘i for three straight years, seeing his role and reps decrease each season. Fujinaka knew Rivera still had the goods to be his best self with the Sharks.
"When he got in the portal, it was a no-brainer for us," Fujinaka told Aloha State Daily of Rivera. "I reached out, and actually, he never got back to me at first. We were just kind of giving up on the fact that we're gonna get Bronson, and then towards the end of the summer Bronson reached out, saying that he's interested in our program. Just super glad it worked out."
Fujinaka's vision has proven to be accurate in 2025. Rivera has started all 33 games for the 19-14 Sharks, hitting .357 with 13 home runs. The 13 long balls are tied with a program single-season record Aaron Asher set in 2009, back when college baseball players were still using BESR bats.
The Sharks have 17 regular season games remaining, including a midweek game at the University of Hawai‘i on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. It'll be the only game the NCAA Division II Sharks play against a Division I opponent in 2025.
For Rivera, the game will serve as an opportunity to play against his former team.
"We're gonna come out playing our best and gonna go our hardest, of course," Rivera said during the team's practice at Les Murakami Stadium on Monday evening. "And I know they are too, so I'm excited for it. Being back out here, it's beautiful. The new turf is really nice. It's good for the boys here, UH. It's just absolutely beautiful. Really excited to be back out here and to play on here again one last time."
Rivera has proven to be durable and consistent as a senior. In 2024, he played in just six games for the Rainbow Warriors, going 0-for-7 at the plate.
"I was just itching to get back on the field and playing again," he said of his decision to transfer. "Definitely happy I'm out back out there. I'm just really trying to live in the present and just stay in the moment and just enjoy it. It's my last year, so I just want to give it my all, so when I look back at it I know that I left it all out there. I've been really grateful for Coach Dane accepting me here with open arms and making me feel at home and like I'm part of the family."
As a team, Hawai‘i Pacific is one of the top hitting teams in the country in 2025. The Sharks are 33rd among Division II teams with a batting average of .318, 16th in the country with 2.27 doubles per game, and their 41 home runs as a team has well surpassed the previous program record of 31.
"We definitely have a lot more thump than we've had in the past," said Fujinaka, who credits hitting coach Richard Higa for the team's approach at the plate. "I think our approach has been pretty good throughout the year. Our emphasis has just been trying to win every pitch. I think we kind of were living and dying by the long ball early in the year, and then as we played better teams, we knew he had to grind out at-bats.
"We had to get back to kind what we're really good at, which is putting the ball in play, putting hard contact in play and then running. We've been able to get the power and that part of the game, the good two strike hitting, being able to move runners, being able to bunt, hit, and run and all that type of stuff together. I think we're able to score more runs that way."
Leading the team in hitting is senior Noah Blythe, who is hitting a preposterous .458 in 32 games. On March 25, Blythe's 60 hits led the country, but the Sharks have not played a game since then, allowing two players to leapfrog him on the national leaderboard.
Blythe actually began his career at Hawai‘i Pacific in 2021, where the PacWest COVID bubble forced the Sharks to close out their season with 22 consecutive games against Hawai‘i-Hilo, going 9-13. Blythe transferred to the University of Antelope Valley, which shut its doors as a school in 2024. HPU was the only school where his credits would transfer and he'd be on track to graduate on time.
"My body has definitely changed. I've definitely gotten a little stronger. I think my approach has gotten a little bit more simple," Blythe said. "I'm older now, so I think I understand the game a little bit better, putting together better at-bats, not really giving away at-bats.
"The first time I was here was during COVID, so everything was kind of like shut down. We didn't really practice too much. We played Hilo (22) times. I've actually had a season this time, going to restaurants and just stuff like that, just going around the island. So, it's been a lot better."
Adding to the team's numbers offensively is senior third baseman Skyler Agnew, who has played in each game and is hitting .336. In last week's road sweep at Menlo, he went 9-for-12 with three home runs, four doubles, 11 runs batted in and 11 runs scored while drawing six walks.
On Tuesday, HPU's bats will be put to the ultimate test against the only Division I team in town on their home field.
"Especially for the local boys in our program, to get a chance to play here is special and we don't really get to play in these type of environments with this big, nice stadium and nice field, and obviously a really good team too," Fujinaka said. "We absolutely know what we're up against, and I know our guys are really excited for the challenge."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
