Waiakea junior Makoa Andres produced a historic BIIF season for the ages and developed into a dominant ace.
Last season, he was the No. 2 starter, and the Warriors finished as the Division I league runner-up.
Andres stepped up the plate and delivered with his promotion as the No. 1 starter, especially with a memorable outing against Hilo on March 3 at Wong Stadium.
The 5-foot-11 right-hander threw a no-hitter in an 11-0 win with eight strikeouts, the first in the long history between the two crosstown rivals.
Andres was named the BIIF Player of the Year, in a vote by the league’s coaches. Waiakea’s Rory Inouye was voted the BIIF Coach of the Year.
“Our season was pretty good, and the team helped me out a lot against Hilo with that no-hitter and stuff,” Andres said. “They backed me up. Other than that, I did pretty good, I guess.”
His stats sailed far beyond the category of pretty good.
In 38 1/3 innings in BIIF competition, Andres went 5-0 with a 1.10 ERA. He allowed 29 hits and 12 walks and whiffed 32.
He also swung a pretty good bat. Andres batted .400 with a .450 on-base percentage and had 11 RBIs.
“He had a really great season,” Inouye said. “He was the ace for our team, and we gave him the ball in big games. Next year, it’s his senior year, and hopefully, he keeps getting better. The sky is the limit for him.”
Outside of his historic no-hitter, Andres’ best two pieces of work came in the BIIF championship series against the Vikings: a loss and a win.
In Game 1, Andres went the distance in an eight inning 4-2 loss to Hilo. He allowed only one earned run, three hits and one walk and struck out 11.
He was nails in relief in Game 3. Andres fired 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the 4-3 win for the BIIF title, Waiakea’s first since 2014.
In pressure cookers, Andres was not only a two-way weapon but also contributed as a stress manager.
“He kept the team relaxed,” Inouye said. “In big games, he would find a way to break them down. He was one of those guys who could crack a joke. A team needs a guy like that to loosen things up.”
Andres is joined on the first team along with five teammates in first baseman Shaun Kurosawa (.472 batting average, .537 on-base), second baseman Trayden Tamiya (.389, .560), shortstop Taylor Mondina (.444, .610), and outfielders Gehrig Octavio (.303, .442) and Nathan Minami (.472, .537).
The other first-team members are Hilo first baseman Nick Antony, third baseman Josiah Factora, shortstop Joey Jarneski, outfielder Micah Bello, and catcher Josh Breitbarth, and Keaau utility Keian Kanetani.
Kurosawa, a senior, had to wait his turn to start. Tamiya, a sophomore, was another first-time starter. Octavio and Minami, both juniors, started as freshmen.
“I’m happy for Shaun,” Inouye said. “Every day, he busted his butt at practice. It’s good to see in his senior year it all paid off for him.
“He was considered for the state Gatorade Player of the Year. They look at grade-point average and community service. They look for well-rounded players.”
For the summer, Andres is busy with Waiakea football workouts, including running and weight lifting, especially with strengthening his lat muscles.
The husky ace pitcher/quarterback knows that a good fastball comes from the back muscles and legs, the power source and foundation, respectively, of pitching.
“Every day, I’m going to football for training,” Andres said. “I’m running and working on my lats, so I can throw faster.”
Andres is following his coach’s observation that the sky is the limit.
“My goal is to reach the 90s (in mph) and hopefully get drafted,” he said. “If not, I want to have college as a back-up. The last time I know I topped out at 87 mph. I want to try to get better.”
In the BIIF history books, Andres has an unprecedented no-hitter against Hilo. He also has a clinching Game 3 BIIF championship victory.
It’s more likely than not that the Vikings will be standing in the way during his final campaign. Either Hilo or Waiakea has won 42 of the last 43 BIIF titles.
It will be fairly tough to top his pretty good season, by his standard. But with hard work as a routine, for Andres, the sky is the limit.
All-BIIF baseball, Division I
Player of the Year: Makoa Andres, Waiakea
Coach of the Year: Rory Inouye, Waiakea
First team
1b Nick Anthony 11 Hilo
1b Shaun Kurosawa 12 Waiakea
2b Trayden Tamiya 10 Waiakea
3b Josiah Factora 12 Hilo
SS Joey Jarneski 11 Hilo
SS Taylor Mondina 12 Waiakea
OF Micah Bello 10 Hilo
OF Gehrig Octavio 11 Waiakea
OF Nathan Minami 11 Waiakea
C Josh Breitbarth 12 Hilo
P Makoa Andres 11 Waiakea
U/DH Keian Kanetani 12 Keaau
