If Mykala Tokunaga the Kamehameha senior had 15 minutes to talk to Mykala Tokunaga the Kamehameha freshman, she’d tell her younger self to take some time to appreciate the accomplishment of being named BIIF Division II Softball Player of the
If Mykala Tokunaga the Kamehameha senior had 15 minutes to talk to Mykala Tokunaga the Kamehameha freshman, she’d tell her younger self to take some time to appreciate the accomplishment of being named BIIF Division II Softball Player of the Year.
“I didn’t realize as a freshman how important it was,” she said of winning the 2013 honor. “I didn’t know what it was about.”
She does now.
It’s become a right of spring for Tokunaga, who still reacts to the honor with surprise, although by now she’s fully aware of what she’s accomplished: Tokunaga, the Warriors’ right-hander, is the first four-time Player of the Year in any BIIF sport.
“That’s crazy,” she said. “I didn’t expect it at all.
“I can’t believe they chose me. I thought after the first or second year, they’d say, no, we’re done with her.”
It’s Tokunaga who is done – as in dominating the BIIF during a career in which she pitched Kamehameha to four consecutive titles, while providing middle-of-the-order pop with her bat. The only standards she ever failed to surpass exceedingly were her own.
From her junior to senior season, Tokunaga’s ERA rose (from 0.88 to 1.49) and her average fell from .647 to .536, but the Warriors never lost a BIIF game during either campaign, finishing third and fourth, respectively in the state.
“No regrets,” Tokunaga said. “I had a really good BIIF career thanks to my teammates and athletic staff at Kamehameha.
“I’ve never had a negative moment here with any teacher.”
In 2016, Tokunaga was 15-0 in the circle with 98 strikeouts and 21 walks in 75 1/3 innings. At the plate, she was fourth on the Warriors in hitting and second with 28 RBIs to go along with two home runs.
Tokunaga was the Warriors’ ace since the day she stepped foot on Kamehameha’s campus in Keaau. Her first loss as a freshman, a game against Hilo in she which remembers being outpitched and allowing too many hits, was a learning experience.
“We didn’t want to have that feeling again,” she said.
The Warriors have lost only two BIIF games since, both one-run defeats in 2014.
Tokunaga was joined on the coaches’ all-BIIF first team by two other seniors who helped power the Warriors’ dynasty, catcher Kekai Wong Yuen (.630 average) and outfielder Makena Wagner (.633), as well as junior shortstop Kiarra Lincoln (.583) and sophomore second baseman Taylor Sullivan (.527, 35 RBIs).
Kohala freshman first baseman Mikayla Kekoa – an early favorite for next season’s top honor along with Sullivan and Lincoln – was selected, as were Cowgirls outfielder Jurnee Keawe, Hawaii Prep first baseman Taimane Kamaka, Honokaa outfielder Keesha Matsuoka, Pahoa outfielder Faith Kamakeeaina and Konawaena utility Teizha Kaluna.
After leading Kamehameha to its BIIF fifth title in as many years at the helm, Gary Ahu was voted Coach of the Year.
“We’re already talking about strategizing for next year so they can pick it up,” Tokunaga said.
The three “Dereks”
Along with Ahu and local hitting guru Kaha Wong, the daughter of Michael and Peggy Tokunaga credits two Dereks and one Derrick with helping her find her way.
As a youngster, Tokunaga tried many other sports – swimming volleyball, basketball – before finally taking up baseball at the urging of coach Derrick Izumo.
“He was my basketball coach and convinced me to play baseball, and that was a big turning point,” Tokunaga said.
Her second baseball coach, Derek Inouye, turned her on to pitching.
“I pitched overhand for baseball and the transition to softball was not easy, but it made it better,” Tokunaga said. “I got to face all the big boys, and I got hit often.”
In high school, Tokunaga worked with coach Derek Lincoln, and all the while her parents rarely if ever missed a game.
Michael Tokunaga, owner of S. Tokunaga Store, was a mainstay at Warriors’ games the past four seasons, often recording all of his daughter’s pitches with an iPad in hand from his front-row seat.
“That’s so embarrassing,” Mykala Tokunaga said. “But my parents did their best so I could do mine.”
Next chapter
Tokunaga graduates Saturday, and when she’s not playing softball or working at her father’s store, she’ll spend much of her summer getting ready to leave for Sonoma State, where she has an athletic scholarship waiting for her.
In addition to all the new challenges that college presents, she knows she’ll likely face a familiar question at Sonoma.
“Why are you so skinny? All my coaches ask me that,” Tokunaga said.
If she were able to have those 15 minutes with her younger self, her biggest piece of advice would be to begin lifting weights earlier in her career. That’s one way she plans to put on pounds for college.
“I just need to work on (pitch) movement,” she said. “Anybody can hit speed in college, it’s whoever has better movement.”
The plan is to get a business degree at Sonoma State and then move back to Hilo.
In the end, the BIIF hasn’t seen the last of Tokunaga.
“I want to help the softball program (at Kamehameha) and better it,” she said.
