There was no major sophomore slump for Tai Atkins, the raw talent at Kamehameha with the whiplash pitching motion.
The 5-foot-10 left-hander pushed the Warriors with sparkling outings in the postseason, which included a sixth straight BIIF Division II title.
He broke something of a pitching tradition at the school. For the last five years, the Warriors featured a senior ace.
Atkins went 7-2 with a 0.77 ERA over 36 1/3 innings.
He allowed 15 hits, walked 18 and whiffed 51.
He was named the BIIF Division II Player of the Year, as selected by the league’s coaches, Hawaii Tribune-Herald, and West Hawaii Today.
“It’s a definite surprise and complete honor,” Atkins said. “I never expected to be awarded as a sophomore. This just makes my drive to become a better player an even higher expectation.”
Hawaii Prep’s Jordan Hayslip was chosen as the BIIF Coach of the year, after leading the underdog Ka Makani to their first state appearance since 2014.
Four teammates join Atkins on the first team: catcher DallasJ Duarte (.304 batting average), second baseman Kyran Kai (.500), shortstop Jai Cabatbat (.389) and outfielder Kegan Miura (.400).
The other first team players are Konawaena first baseman Stevie Texeira, third baseman Kolu Alani, and outfielders Vohn Yamaguchi and Austin Ewing, and Hawaii Prep utility Finn Richmond (shortstop/pitcher) and pitcher Jonah Hurney.
Atkins had a dominant freshman season last year when the Warriors captured the state championship at Wong Stadium.
He went 3-0 with a save and 0.89 ERA in 33 1/3 innings. He surrendered just 13 hits and 10 walks and struck out 43.
Last December, Atkins gave a verbal commitment to play for UH-Manoa on a full-ride scholarship.
He was also offered a UH scholarship as a freshman, the only Big Island pitcher to be offered so young.
In four postseason appearances against Honokaa and HPA in the BIIF championship series and against Radford and HPA at states, Atkins was simply overpowering and unbeatable.
He won all four games, including a one-inning stint against HPA for third place at states, and posted a 0.50 ERA in 14 innings. Atkins gave up only five hits, one run, and three walks and whiffed 21.
Life wasn’t a bed of roses early in the season for Atkins, who struggled in his encore after one of the best BIIF freshman pitching seasons.
“He had a rough beginning to the season. He needed to work on consistency with fastball command,” Kamehameha coach Andy Correa said. “He threw against the best competition. We used a lot of pitchers, but he was our anchor and carried us at the end.”
Atkins is Kamehameha’s fifth consecutive POY honoree, following last year’s Daylen Calicdan, Kobi Candaroma, Chay Toson and Bronson Pulgados. (In 2012, there was an East-West format.)
There has never been a three-time POY for either Division I or II. That’s another carrot for Atkins to chase.
“My biggest struggle this year was trying to exceed last year’s performance, which held me back,” Atkins said. “To overcome that struggle, I had to refocus and put the past in the past.
“For me to pitch against the top teams was thrilling. The pressure of playing a top caliber team really gets the blood flowing.”
Atkins will attend summer school to focus on academics and also work out with teammates to build an appetite for states, again.
“My season was bittersweet. Although we didn’t accomplish our goal of defending our title, this gave us the drive to work even harder as a team,” Atkins said. “What I liked about our team is that we have a bunch of young bucks with a lot of hunger.
“Coach Scott (Tomita) helped fine-tune my mechanics when they would fall out of place. He would make most of his teachings stick with his humorous and jolly character, which would lighten a tough situation.”
One of the pitching staff’s young bucks is freshman right-hander Zakaia Michaels, who pitched two scoreless innings against Radford and 5 1/3 shutout innings in the 10-inning, 2-1 loss to Kauai in the semifinals.
Kai, a junior right-hander, went 1-1 with no earned runs allowed in 16 2/3 innings. He’s another solid arm out of the bullpen.
The Warriors don’t have to worry about pitching, especially with an ace like Atkins, who gets a personal cheering section with his grandparents, Anne and Doug Atkins.
“My grandparents are my biggest inspiration,” he said. “They commit to watch every single game no matter where I go. They always make an effort to watch me perform.”
And those performances, especially in the postseason, were POY-worthy dazzling gems.
