Keoni DeRenne grew up during the University of Hawai‘i baseball program's golden age, back when his father, Coop, was an assistant coach under Les Murakami.
Baseball has been DeRenne's life from an early age. He ended up becoming quite the player himself and had a large selection of scholarship offers during a successful high school baseball career at ‘Iolani. DeRenne chose the University of Arizona and enrolled in 1997, citing his relationship with its coaching staff, which made multiple trips to O‘ahu to secure and affirm his commitment.
DeRenne was an All-Pac 10 shortstop at Arizona and consistently caught the attention of MLB scouts, turning pro when he was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 12th round of the 2000 MLB Draft. His journeyman career as a player included eight seasons across five different MLB organizations in the minor leagues, as well as three seasons in independent ball.
Following his playing career, DeRenne shifted to coaching, where he's been a part of three organizations, most recently with the Kansas City Royals as an assistant hitting coach.
Although his baseball journey has pulled him away from the Islands, DeRenne continues to make frequent trips to his home state in the offseason, where he can be seen helping out the next generation of ballplayers. He was recently at a free University of Hawai‘i keiki camp at Les Murakami Stadium, where he fielded dozens of questions from an eager group of youngsters.
Questions ranged from hardest pitcher he's ever faced to kindest teammate, as well as recommendations for college. "No reason for you to leave," interjected Hawai‘i head coach Rich Hill. DeRenne continued to be patient with the young players and their families, sticking around for pictures and autographs.
"Every time I do come to this stadium, the few times that I've come since high school because the season kind of overlaps, I reflect on my childhood life, right? Because this is where I grew up from the time that my dad was coaching here. It always brings back great, fond, core memories and then opportunities like this," DeRenne told Aloha State Daily. "Coach Rich has been so gracious to let me come back, and something like this is my way to give back in a small way. I'm just honored that they want me to come out to share my story a little bit.
"Anytime that I can give back, especially in the baseball community, man, to me, it's an honor. It's what I want to do, and it's the platform that I have that allows me to be able to pay it forward."
Following the 2025 season, the Royals decided not to bring back their assistant hitting coaches in DeRenne and Joe Dillon, though DeRenne was able to land on his feet. The next destination in DeRenne's baseball journey is with the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, where he'll serve as the hitting coach on a two-year deal. Tampa will be his ninth different MLB organization as either a coach or a player.
"I'm very grateful to go to an organization who has done a really good developing players, drafting players, developing coaches and front office personnel," DeRenne said. "If you look around Major League Baseball, their fingerprints are all over it, whether it's in the Minor Leagues, in the Major Leagues, front office, and a lot of those people have come from Tampa Bay to start, so I'm really excited to see what they got going on over there and how they operate, because it's going to help me grow. And hopefully it gets it gives me an opportunity to get back to the big leagues, which is still my my dream and still my goal: To be able to coach at the Major League level and win a World Series."
DeRenne originally joined the Royals in 2020 as the Minor League hitting coordinator. Ahead of the 2022 season, he was named an assistant hitting coach for the big league club, the first time he was in a Major League dugout as a coach or a player. During his time in Kansas City, he worked with some of the biggest stars in the sport, most notably Bobby Witt Jr.
"My time with Kansas City was nothing but unbelievable memories, relationships that I've been able to create and still have to this day, and they're lifelong friends and relationships that I'll carry to the day I'm done, or to the day I die. I'm very thankful that they gave me the opportunity to coach at the Major League level, to achieve my dreams as a little kid," DeRenne said. "I have nothing but respect for everybody that's there. I wish the players great, great luck, great health moving forward. And that's the one thing that I'm going to miss the most, is just the relationships that I've had with all the people there.
"It's still kind of new to me, as far as the wound hasn't healed or closed up. But I know that once I close that chapter and move on, I'm going to be right back to where I need to be. Baseball is baseball. But I'm so, so thankful for that chance that they gave me six years ago to be a part of the organization."
DeRenne is one of the longest tenured members of a growing fraternity of coaches in MLB organizations with Hawai‘i ties. Baldwin alumnus Kurt Suzuki was named the manager for the Los Angeles Angels in October, while Waiakea alumnus Kai Correa was named the bench coach for the New York Mets, also in October. Meanwhile, Leilehua and Hawai‘i-Hilo alum Brendan Sagara is a pitching strategist for the Texas Rangers. ‘Iolani alumnus Mike Fetters was recently the bullpen coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks, which reached the World Series in 2023.
Other coaches from Hawai‘i in the pro ranks include Kamehameha alumnus Kanekoa Teixeira, the manager of the Gwinnett Stripers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Braves, as well as Punahou alumnus Bryson Nakamura, the hitting strategist for the Miami Marlins. Additionally, ‘Iolani alum Jordan Hara was recently named the hitting coach for the Florida Complex League Cardinals, the rookie-level affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.
"Very grateful and proud to be a part of that, but I only got there because I had a lot of help. God blessed me with the right people in my life. I'm just very grateful to be able to pass on and share knowledge," DeRenne said. "That's part of my job at the end of the day, no matter what, to get our players better, wherever I'm at, get the organization better, and then being able to come back home during the offseason and share some of that with some of the local boys who seek me out for any help that I can give them. And it's an honor for me to be able to do that."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
