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ASD Staff

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

But hold on, is it bad luck to even joke about this? Oh no, now we've repeated the joke! Ahhh!

Pali Tunnel i Stock 182908571 16x9

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Pork over the Pali</title>

Today's social media find comes from kenekethegreat, tunneling his way to laughter.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Pork over the Pali

But hold on, is it bad luck to even joke about this? Oh no, now we&#039;ve repeated the joke! Ahhh!  

Government & Politics

 on the number of sharks attacks in the United States by state in 2025. Using data compiled by the media outlet as well as by 

, there were at least 28 reported shark attacks nationwide last year.

In the top spot was Florida, with 15 attacks by such species as bull sharks and lemon sharks, in incidents where the shark was  identified.

Next came California with 4 attacks, all attributed to great white sharks.

Hawai‘i had the third largest number of attacks with three, no fatalities. The attacks were attributed to a blacktop reef shark, a tiger shark and one unknown species.

There followed South Carolina with two, Texas with two, North Carolina with two, then Massachusetts and New York with one attack each.

The 28 reported attacks marked a decline from 36 in 2024.

"The odds of being killed by a shark in the United States are more than 4 million to 1, according to 

" reported USA Today. "Researchers say people are more likely to die by lighting strike (1 in nearly 80,000), accidental poisoning (1 in 193), or a hospital infection (1 in 38)."

[{"type":"text","text":"Globally, there were 11 fatalities among 68 reported attacks."}]

Know your shark! Hawai‘i's Department of Land and Natural Resources has an online identification guide for the roughly 40 species of shark seen in Hawai‘i's waters, click 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Shark warning i Stock 1161806839 16x9

<title>Where Hawai‘i ranked for shark attacks in 2025</title>

Shark attacks were recorded in eight states last year.

Where Hawai‘i ranked for shark attacks in 2025

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawaii History

Columnists

Not far beneath the paved roads, apartment buildings, and high-rises, a hidden system of underground caverns and spring-fed ponds once nourished wetlands, lo

i kalo, and freshwater ponds across the M

ili district. This karst, the underground cave system, was formed by eons of erosion of the coral limestone base that consists of beach sediments, marine organisms, and fragments of shells and water-worn coral. The M

ili Karst is thought to be part of the original channel of Mānoa Stream, and contained fish that lived so long in the darkness that they were blind.

It is said that when someone asked an old fisherman in the area where he was going, he

m going holoholo,” out for a walk. For if he announced he was going fishing, the fish that lived underground would hear his plans and spread the word, and the fisherman would have no luck that day.

The water in the underground streams rose to the surface in sacred ponds. Among these, one of the most important was Kapa

akea, also remembered as Kumulae and then later called Hausten Pond. Like nearby Kānewai, Kapa

akea was believed to possess healing qualities and was associated with restoration.

The pond was a favored retreat of Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, who inherited the land from her mother, Kina

ahumanu. Kamāmalu died in 1866 with no heirs, and Kapa

akea eventually came under the ownership of Princess Pauahi and the Bishop Trust. In the 1920s, it was purchased by John McGuire, whose wife, Emma Kaleimoku Ai, established a sanctuary for her family. The property overflowed with a wide variety of tropical flowers, plumeria, ulu, and kukui trees, as well as Hawaiian medicinal plants and herbs, and, of course, Emma

s graceful willow trees that would eventually give the place a new name. The family even had a diving board over the freshwater pond to entertain the children and visitors. The pond was stocked with koi that were said to have interbred with the fish inhabiting the underground streams.

s passing, Emma remarried Henry T. Hausten. The family began hosting political dinners and occasional lu

au for important guests. With the help of Emma

s daughters, her sister, and her brother, things quickly evolved into a full-time business and eventually into The Willows.

Since their official opening in 1944, The Willows welcomed everyone with beautiful settings, warm hospitality, and delicious food. On almost any given day, one would see average working families having a quiet meal alongside the rich and famous. The Willows catered to everybody, perhaps even the otherworldly.

One afternoon, while I was still teaching at a Hawaiian immersion school, a parent asked if she could share her story with me.

She said she used to work as a cashier at The Willows restaurant. At night, she counted the money from the day

the cage,” while a security guard kept watch. One night, out of the blue, they heard Hawaiian music coming from the main part of the restaurant. They could hear lively conversations and the sound of cutlery on plates. But the restaurant had been closed for hours.

After locking the cage door, she and the guard went to check, but the place was empty and completely quiet. The silence was unnerving, but the two were not going to wait for the proverbial shoe to drop. They decided she would quickly finish counting the cash, and then they would leave as soon as she was done. But as she neared the end of her count, they heard splashing in the pond and the sounds of laughter and fun.

Once she finished her work, she and the security guard braced themselves to leave, trying to ignore anything else they might see or hear.

The laughter and splashing kept going until we left the restaurant,” she said, 

When we got to the parking lot, we heard the Hawaiian music again. The security guard quit the next day, and later that week, I started working at the airlines.”

I shared a bit of the pond's sacred history, and she looked as if she had just remembered something important.

She added that sometimes, while counting money in the cage, they would finish and look up to see tiny footprints all over the ceiling and walls, as if children had been stomping around, though they never heard any footsteps. A staff member once told them there was supposed to be a menehune path through The Willows, but no one knew exactly where it was.

Of course, not everyone who worked at the Willows had a supernatural experience, but based on her stories, there was enough happening that it was hard to keep security guards on staff.

Sadly, The Willows closed in 2018 after serving the public for nearly 70 years. I wonder if the neighbors still hear the music, laughter, and celebrations.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":" "}]

The old Willows Restaurant Large

<title>Echoes of The Willows</title>

Generations of kama‘āina have warm memories of The Willows restaurant in Mō‘ili‘ili. Here's the real history of the location, and the reasons why people who worked there heard singing when no one was present and saw the footprints of ghostly children.

Echoes of The Willows

IMG 1445

Rick Hamada

Sports

The recent Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks didn't create as much reaction and discussion as the halftime show and there's more post-game conversation about the musical performance than the game itself.

Unless you've been living in a self contained environmental bubble for all your life the NFL Super Bowl has become the most watched entertainment event in the nation rivaling the FIFA World Cup Soccer championships for the global top spot.

If you're not an NFL fan yet you watch the Super Bowl, you will find the commercials during the game the most compelling. This year it's not the funniest or most emotional advertisement people remember. It's the 13-minute halftime show.

The halftime show of the Super Bowl serves two primary purposes. One, it features a purely entertaining performance from a semi-universally popular and talented soloist or group. Hopefully it evokes a unifying sense of happiness and joy among the audience as the show intends to be a pure celebration of the moment. I know, for every 

[{"type":"text","text":"But there was one common denominator founded in each show until recently."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"No controversy."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"And this Super Bowl halftime show was filled with it."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"So, who is this performer who has split opinions in two or even three?"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"What the what is this Bad Bunny?"}]

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio was born on March 10, 1994, in Bayamón, and was raised in the barrio of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. His father, Benito Martínez, was a truck driver, and his mother, Lysaurie Ocasio, is a retired schoolteacher. He has two younger brothers, Bernie and Bysael. Music was a presence in his childhood as his parents often listened to genres such as salsa and meringue, and pop ballads. 

He attended church weekly with his devoutly Catholic mother and sang in the church choir until age 13. After leaving the choir, he developed an interest in the artists he heard on the radio, particularly Daddy Yankee and Hectore Lavoe.

[{"type":"text","text":"So how did we go from Benito Ocasio to Bad Bunny?"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Glad you asked."}]

His stage name originated from a time when he was forced to wear a bunny costume and was angry about it.

After graduating high school in 2012, Martínez enrolled in the audiovisual communications program at the University of Puerto Rico, aiming to become a radio host. He worked part-time as a bagger and cashier at a supermarket while creating music. He left university without completing his degree to pursue his musical aspirations.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Let's fast forward."}]

" became the first Spanish-language album to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2026 and he headlined the 

[{"type":"text","text":"And here we are."}]

Mr. Bunny has made remarkable accomplishments in his life and has reached the highest levels of accomplishment in an industry that can be so incredibly difficult both professionally and personally. I want it stridently stated that he has earned my respect and others as an artist and for serving his global audience so well.

Moving forward we must acknowledge that any commentary either positive or negative must be viewed through the lens of two entities; The National Football League and Jay-Z also known as Mr. Beyonce.

Since 2019, Jay-Z and his entertainment company, Roc Nation, have served as the NFL's live music entertainment strategist, managing the Super Bowl halftime show and supporting the "Inspire Change" social justice initiative. This partnership, aimed at modernizing the halftime show with diverse artists, has seen performances from artists like Rihanna and Usher, despite initial criticism regarding the NFL's treatment of Colin Kaepernick. 

This cultural agenda desired by the NFL to be viewed as inclusionary and Jay-Z's position to promote acts that benefits his Roc Nation brand combine to dispel with the aforementioned original intent of the Super Bowl halftime show. It has gone from a pure musical celebration to a political activism platform either intending or ignorantly facilitating the great divide in America today. 

If you define this chasm in our nation as a burning fire then consider performances like Bad Bunny and others as more fuel.

Allow me to bullet point my thoughts and pose some questions regarding Mr. Bunny's performance:

Finally, there are many that justify Mr. Bunny's appearance as due to his popularity and attraction to international audiences. According to Apple's Music's Top Songs of 2025 Global, yes, His Bunnyness had four songs in the top 100. That is impressive. But another artist with a diametrically different sound that so many have clamored for appeared on the list too. His name is Morgan Wallen with 12 songs on the list. He is a country and western music star with apparently three times the success of Bad Bunny.

[{"type":"text","text":"And, yes, triumphantly purely American. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"NFL, it's time to read the room."}]

Getty Images 2260613712

<title>Hamada: Super Bowl shenanigans</title>

The selection of Bad Bunny seemed calculated to provoke more than entertain. Why can't entertainment just be ... entertaining?

Hamada: Super Bowl shenanigans

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Aloha Spirit

 says he’s been lucky — he’s been able to work on “some of the most important historic sites in Hawai‘i” throughout his decades-long career.

Often recognized for his work in historic preservation, Mason’s portfolio includes work on a 

number of historical sites across the Islands and Guam

, including ‘Iolani Palace, Lunalilo tomb, the former Advertiser building, Hulihe‘e Palace, Kalahikiola Church and Kawaiaha‘o Church. He also serves on the 

The founding principal of MASON will be awarded the Medal of Honor by the American Institute of Architects Hawai‘i State Council and the Hawai‘i Architectural Foundation at an upcoming awards gala.

AIA Hawai‘i and HAF will present the second annual Huaka‘i Awards Gala from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at the Pacific Club. Find more information and tickets 

The Medal of Honor is the council’s highest distinction, awarded since 1998 to architects who advance the profession and inspire fellow practitioners, a recent announcement from AIA Hawai‘i and HAF noted. It’s not awarded annually and Mason is just the 12th recipient of the honor.

In an interview last month, Mason told Aloha State Daily that he’s been involved with the award since the beginning and did the write-ups on nearly all previous winners. So it’s “very weird,” he says, to be on the other side.

Although he initially had mixed feelings about receiving the award — he was in favor or recognizing another architect — he told ASD that he’s happy to receive the award, “but I’m not much of an awards person, so I’m going with the flow.”

His interest in historic preservation goes back to his college days. Even as a student at the University of Michigan, Mason says he was interested in the field.

“Now, I can’t say that I thought of myself as a preservationist,” he told ASD. “They didn’t have a preservation program, but I was interested in older buildings. They had an observatory structure there that just fascinated me, so I worked on that a little bit. But my first couple of years in architecture, I really did almost none of that work because I worked for Val Ossipoff’s office, and that’s not what they were doing.”

Opportunities, though, presented themselves later.

When asked how he got into architecture to begin with, the response is simple.

“Well, I like building stuff,” Mason says. “That’s the core of it.”

He took a few years of architectural drafting in high school and “kind of liked that.”

After graduating high school, Mason says he was interested in pursuing either architecture or math, “and then calculus kind of convinced me that I was not cut out for math and so I gravitated toward architecture.”

“It just is a natural fit,” he says. “Preservation is a natural fit for me because I have always thought of myself as a problem solver, and the challenge with old buildings in particular, among other things, is how do you bring those buildings up to date and still respect the buildings, still respect the historic nature of the buildings, and that … thought process is the real challenge for me. It’s all a puzzle, and I kind of like puzzles, figuring out how to do things. Sometimes, you get surprised by the answers that you come up with.

“But you have to start by saying, ‘I want this particular building or structure or whatever to retain as much of its original look or feeling as possible, but on the other hand, I’ve got to insert a fire suppression system. How do I do that?’ And you figure out the way to do it with the least amount of damage to the structure. That is not as straightforward as one might think. Sometimes, you have to think a little bit out of the box, and I’m just a little bit more suited to that.”

Mason received the President’s Award in 2013 and the Frank Haines Award in 2014, both from the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation.

Previous Medal of Honor recipients include Carol Sakata (2023), Chris Smith (2021), Daniel Chun (2019), John Hara (2017), Donald Goo (2015), Kenneth Brown (2004), Ernest Hara and Elmer Botsai (2002), Frank Haines (2000), Charles Sutton (1999) and Vladimir Ossipoff (1998). 

Also being recognized at the upcoming gala are:

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Glenn Mason FAIA 2025 Cropped

<title>Glenn Mason to receive Medal of Honor for work in architecture</title>

Mason, who is known for his historic preservation work, is just the 12th person to receive this award.

Glenn Mason to receive Medal of Honor for work in architecture

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

The University of Hawai‘i hopes to bring a new $140 million interisland undersea fiber internet network online by the end of the year.

The Hawaiian Islands Fiber Link (HIFL) project would connect the six main Hawaiian islands via 416 miles of fiber optic cable in order to update the state’s aging and vulnerable broadband infrastructure.

Garret Yoshimi, UH’s vice president of information technology, told Aloha State Daily that there are currently three undersea fiber networks linking the islands, all owned by Hawaiian Telcom. However, all three networks are old: two are more than 25 years old, and the third more than 15 years old.

With the planned lifespan of subsea fiber cables typically set at 25 years — and with the youngest network not well maintained, Yoshimi said — the state’s infrastructure is due for an update. In 2019, Yoshimi said, a damaged cable resulted in the entirety of Kaua‘i losing internet and telephone service for nearly a day.

“People weren’t able to make credit card transactions,” Yoshimi said. “And that happens when all the traffic is concentrated on one cable.”

UH has been planning HIFL for years, with the project first announced in Jan. 2024. Yoshimi said the university became involved following an influx of federal funds for broadband improvement projects in 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic created an increased need for reliable networks so people could work and attend school remotely.

As such, Yoshimi said the university was ideally placed to receive about $109 million in federal funds to develop HIFL. The remainder of the estimated $140 million budget would come from private partners.

“Commercial providers just didn’t see a good return on investment for a project like this,” Yoshimi said, explaining that HIFL on its own likely won’t bring noticeable improvements to internet service, but will improve network resilience throughout the state.

Yoshimi said laying the cable itself should be a relatively quick process, and said that UH is still trying to get the network operational by the end of the year, a deadline set back in 2024.

“It’s a very tight schedule,” Yoshimi admitted. “There’s still a lot more permitting work we need to do before the cables can go into the water.”

The cable laying itself will be carried out by Georgia-based subsea cable company Ocean Networks Inc. (ONI), which will form an LLC with the state of Hawai‘i to take on continued ownership and maintenance of the cable.

Once the network is completed, Yoshimi said telecommunication companies will connect to the cable landings on each island — which are mostly located on UH property — to complete “last mile” connections with end users.

While Yoshimi reiterated that internet users likely won’t see an improvement in service once HIFL is online, he added that the project, in conjunction with a separate UH project called the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, will help expand networks into underserved rural areas where internet access is unreliable.

 for the project was published on Sunday, with the report anticipating that the project will have no significant impact. However, the assessment’s publication triggers a 30-day public comment period, allowing members of the public to review the report and submit comments until March 10. Comments can be submitted to info@hifl.llc.

A final environmental assessment for the project will be published later in the year.

HIFL project footprint R2 16x9

<title>UH's underwater fiber network still aiming for 2026 completion</title>

The Hawaiian Islands Fiber Link project would connect the six main islands via fiber optic cable thanks to millions in federal funds.

UH's underwater fiber network still aiming for 2026 completion

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Winter break is ending soon. In a few days, Sean Yamaguchi is flying back to frigid Reno, where the star University of Nevada sophomore will continue his collegiate baseball career. Other college students Yamaguchi's age spending the holidays at home are likely to be enjoying an afternoon of frivolity at the beach or a related activity, basking in the relative warmth of the Islands. But on this day, Yamaguchi is partaking in a sacred family tradition. 

Mike Yamaguchi, his wife Leina and their two sons, Michael and Sean, have spent countless hours over the years at a park near the family's ‘Aiea home, where the sessions double as hitting training and family time. Michael and Sean take turns swinging, then the entire family would pick up baseballs in the outfield. Sometimes, the family dog would come. When others came to join, Leina would bring snacks. 

Each park session brought Michael and Sean closer to their baseball dreams. Michael went on to play collegiately at Saint Martin's University, a Division II school in Washington, from 2021 to 2023. Sean Yamaguchi's baseball story is still being written, though his resume boasts Little League World Series star, state Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Saint Louis in 2024 and Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2025. 

Add legitimate MLB Draft prospect twice to the list, where Yamaguchi turned down interest after high school in order to go to college. In 2026, he'll be a draft-eligible sophomore. Yamaguchi is a prime candidate to hear his name called somewhere in July's 20 rounds, where he could then sign with the team that picks him and officially start his professional career. 

There's a lot for Yamaguchi to consider as he embarks on the most important year of his baseball career to date, which is why days at the park are vital. The weather is picture perfect on this day. Nobody else is waiting around the baseball diamond, a rarity at this park, where the only noise disturbing the peace is the sound emanating from Yamaguchi's metal bat, with big brother throwing the pitches. 

"It is exciting," Yamaguchi told Aloha State Daily of the potential start to his pro career. "Once the summer hits, it's going to start to feel a lot more real. But right now, I can only focus on just getting better every day. I honestly believe hard work pays off, and I think if you just keep doing that and keep stacking the good days and treat every day like day one, I think I'll be in a good spot."

[{"type":"text","text":"Built in the backyard"}]

Sean Yamaguchi's rise to baseball prominence didn't begin at the Little League World Series. It began in the backyard, where his tools were discovered and harnessed. 

To an outsider, the most distinct part of the Yamaguchi home, which looks more like a compound, is the outdoor batting cage. Built by Leina's father, the cage is where Michael and Sean spent hours on end perfecting their swings. With built-in lights, the boys could be in there well into the night.

"They would be there every night, as long as they did their homework. Sean would lie," said Mike Yamaguchi with a chuckle. Mike also recalled how neighbors could certainly hear the echoes but would hardly complain. 

Before Sean Yamaguchi looked up to the pros, he looked up to Michael. He'd sit in the stands, cheering big brother on, hoping to hit home runs in the same leagues one day. With Michael showing Sean the way, little brother excelled in the sport. It wasn't long until Sean was playing above his age group and playing on the same teams as Michael. 

Hitting dingers was fun, and there were a lot of them, but Mike Yamaguchi says his boys also spent a large portion of time working on fielding in the cage at home. Hitting at the park also became routine, because the boys also had to learn how to hit in all areas of the field and weren't able to see the ball travel as well in the cage. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Little League dreams "}]

 hadn't met Sean Yamaguchi yet, but he had certainly heard of his 10U team's prowess. In addition to Yamaguchi, his team featured players such as future Little League World Series standouts Jace Souza, Mana Lau Kong, Aukai Kea, and even current Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola. The following year, when Yamaguchi was playing in a tournament with ‘Iolani's 11U team, Oda was impressed by a pair of extra base hits he belted to right center — kids that age tend to pull the ball. 

"He wasn't the fastest guy, he obviously wasn't the biggest guy, but he just had a good nose to the ball and he could hit," Oda recalled. 

Yamaguchi and Oda still had't met until Yamaguchi introduced himself unprompted after the game. 

"This kid gets it. He's only 11 years old, but what impressed me the most, the fact that he went out of his way to talk to me," Oda said. "That tells you what kind of kid this kid is, and of course, the parents. It very, very rarely happens where a kid will just walk up to me and just shake my hand. That's not normal for a kid that young to do that. And then we had an opportunity to pick him up later on."

Yamaguchi was perhaps the face of a Honolulu Little League team that went all the way to the 2018 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. and won. His charisma was displayed during off the field moments on ESPN, endearing the team to the world and providing hope for a state that was preparing for a potentially catastrophic hurricane. He also happened to be one of the star players, batting .400 with a grand slam while serving as the team's 3-hole hitter. He even pitched, refusing to give up a run in his two relief appearances. 

While the Little League World Series gains massive popularity in Hawai‘i when a team from the Islands makes it to Williamsport, the event is not without its detractors. For decades, the argument has been made against having 11- and 12-year-old kids play in a 

 in front of a network that televises it to millions of viewers worldwide. All the while, since the event runs in late August, the kids are missing school. 

"Once in a while, you look up and you see all those people, and you're like, 'Dude, this is kind of crazy.' And then you look back down at your shoes and at the dirt, and it's just baseball," Yamaguchi said. "We're just gonna go out there and have fun. And that's the best advice I ever got from Coach Gerald and them, is go out there, take a deep breath, look around and just feel like this is why you play baseball. You didn't play baseball for the cameras, for the fans, you came here to play baseball because you love the game.

"I was just living in the moment. I had a blast. I didn't go out there trying to be the funny guy or anything, that's just me. I showed me, and I just had a lot of fun doing it."

Added Oda: "What you saw on TV, for sure that's Seanie in real life. I think what makes Seanie very special was you see the good players, but the great players make everyone else around them better. And that's what Seanie did."

[{"type":"text","text":"Just the beginning"}]

Prior to the Little League World Series, Sean Yamaguchi startled his parents by telling them he wanted to transfer from ‘Iolani to Saint Louis. 

"He told me and my wife that he wanted to go to Saint Louis, and we had a long discussion, and I explained to him that Saint Louis is a boys' school," Mike Yamaguchi said. "It's a tough school, it's a very competitive school, and he said that's why he wants to go there."

Since Michael still attended ‘Iolani, the commute for the Yamaguchi boys was about to get extended by a few miles. Sean Yamaguchi knew leaving the nurturing nature of ‘Iolani in favor of the Saint Louis slopes was a sacrifice worth making. 

Sean Yamaguchi began to get recognized in public after returning home from Williamsport, but he'd be damned if that's where the list of his baseball accolades came to an end. 

"He knows he's blessed with a skill," Mike Yamaguchi said. "He's a very hard worker."

He returned motivated to ascend even further in the sport and created a plan for himself. Sessions in the cage and at the park would be supplemented by rigorous weight room sessions and disciplined eating. He quickly made friends with his Saint Louis teammates, inviting them over for some extra work. Names such as Aiva Arquette, the seventh overall selection of the 2025 MLB Draft, as well as Caleb Lomavita, the 39th overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft, were some of the names that came through. 

"It got me mentally tough. It's a tough school. It's an all-boys school," Yamaguchi said. "If you're not ready to compete at anything you do, in the classroom, on the field, then Saint Louis is not the school for you."

During his senior year at Saint Louis, Yamaguchi hit .403 while manning shortstop for the Crusaders, winning ILH and Hawai‘i Gatorade Player of the Year honors. Saint Louis was eliminated in the HHSAA semifinals, leaving Yamaguchi without a state title. It's the rare goal that has eluded him. 

While racking up the individual honors, Yamaguchi spent much of his senior year filling out questionnaires for MLB scouts. More than a dozen teams inquired, wanting to learn what it would take to get him to skip his commitment to the University of Nevada and turn pro immediately. Yamaguchi ultimately decided college was the best route for his development. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Standing out of the pack"}]

One of the first things asked of Yamaguchi upon arriving to Reno was to put on the catcher's gear. Sure, he was a middle infielder his whole childhood, but Nevada's coaches were skeptical he could stick at an infield position at this level. Yamaguchi was told he'd start off as the bullpen catcher, and after that, maybe he could work his way up to backup catcher. 

"I said, OK, yes, coach, I'm going to go out there and prove to you guys that I'm going to do anything for this team, and I'm going to do anything to win," Yamaguchi recalled. In his heart, he knew he belonged at one of the other infield positions. And in his belly, a fire burned. Each morning, he'd wake up early to lift weights. He'd also show up early to practice to get extra swings in. With a strong showing in the fall, highlighted by a towering home run in a scrimmage against Vanderbilt, he knew his coaches couldn't deny him a spot in the starting nine. 

Yamaguchi won the starting third base job by opening day and never relinquished it, committing just four errors all year at the hot corner. At the plate, he hit 13 home runs while maintaining a .324 batting average, driving in 50 runs. He was named the Mountain West Conference's Freshman of the Year. The Wolf Pack went 34-23, winning the Mountain West regular season title before falling short of an NCAA Regional appearance by getting eliminated in the conference tournament. 

When a freshman like Yamaguchi puts up the numbers that he did, other schools notice. After Nevada's season ended, Yamaguchi became an attractive commodity, even though he did not announce plans to enter the transfer portal. 

Left and right, power conference schools were approaching Yamaguchi. One particular school, a College World Series regular, had hundreds of thousands of dollars at the ready for one season of Yamaguchi's services. All he had to do was enter the portal and it was his.

"As a 20-year-old, that's very intriguing. That kind of money that they were throwing out is like, wow," Yamaguchi said. "But the biggest thing for me is Jake (McKinley) gave me that opportunity. Nevada gave me that opportunity. So, I wanted to stay as loyal as I can. ... I think that offseason last year, it was pretty crazy. But I wanted to show my loyalty to Nevada and what they did for me."

Nevada's 2026 season, which starts on Friday with a three-game series at Ole Miss, is packed with promise. High expectations are placed towards the Wolf Pack despite losing McKinley to a coaching role with the Seattle Mariners in December. Under new head coach Jordan Getzelman, the Pack were picked to finish first in the preseason Mountain West poll, voted on by the conference's coaches. Yamaguchi was also five Nevada players on the preseason All-Conference team. Additionally, D1Baseball recently named Yamaguchi its preseason Mountain West Player of the Year. 

"Nevada's in the right spot," Yamaguchi said. "We're returning eight of our nine starters from last year. We're going to be really good. ... It was the best decision I made. Even looking back at high school, like trying to go out of high school to the draft, I think college was the best decision I've ever made, and hopefully it all works out."

[{"type":"text","text":"A big league future? "}]

A standout flag football quarterback and receiver, Yamaguchi made the conscious decision to focus on baseball around the time he became a Little League star. He's honed in on a singular goal since then: A long career in the Major Leagues. 

"I finally realized, bad days in baseball and good days, I still love the sport. I can have a terrible day, go 0-for-4, and I would still look forward to the next practice," he said. "You got to love the sport, and you got to make sure that you dedicate everything to the sport. I've sacrificed a lot, not going to the beach every day and stuff. It's just the sacrifices that I really put into this game and just making sure that I dedicate my craft to it. And I think that's when it really started to pick up. Like, I got a real shot at this sport, so might as well live it out, go all out for it and try to make it to the show."

Bring Yamaguchi's name up in front of pro scouts, and they say a variation of the same thing: The kid can 

. He's produced, on offense and defense, at every level he's been a part of. 

Because he will be 21 by the time the 2026 MLB Draft arrives in July, Yamaguchi will be eligible to get selected. Other players at four-year schools have to wait until their junior year. Yamaguchi can either start his professional career this summer or play another season of college baseball, where as a junior in 2027, he’ll still have the leverage to command a sizable pro payday.

The higher Yamaguchi climbs in the sport, the more responsible he feels for representing where he comes from. During his free time back home over winter break, he volunteered at a youth camp, offering pointers to those who aim to follow in his footsteps. 

"Something I can take on throughout my whole journey is to always represent Hawai‘i and always be humble," Yamaguchi says. "They love the local boys. They love the local sports. They love to back kids up. So, the biggest thing for me is understanding that if I do well and I put Hawai‘i on the map, Hawai‘i got my back. And I would never do anything to give Hawai‘i a bad rep. I would love to go out there with the aloha spirit and make sure that I put Hawai‘i on the map."

Yamaguchi has already played in games in front of thousands that were repurposed for millions to see. He's hoping he gets to do that more consistently and for a living within a couple of years. His childhood passion has turned into a business in real time, and he has the numbers to prove it. One of the few constants left in the mad dash to his dreams is his support system, especially those precious days at the park. They remind him he may be away, but he's not alone. 

Yamaguchi, the former Honolulu Little League star, is on the verge of starting his professional career, where he hopes to live out a goal of making the Major Leagues.

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