It’s happened a few times the past couple of years at Kaha Wong’s batting cage.
A mother or father shows up and hands money to Wong and asks the hitting guru if he can mold their son into the next Kolten Wong.
To that, Kaha Wong says this: aim higher.
“Why do you want to be like Kolten?” Kaha Wong said. “Be better than Kolten.
“Your son is your son and my son is my son. Let’s see how far your son can go.”
In the year 2020, a handful of Hilo’s favorite sons are prepared to go exceedingly far and high.
Kaha Wong has always had a sneaking suspicion next season was going to produce a bumper class of ballplayers on the Big Island, and the notion was only reinforced when six of his hitting pupils – seniors Kalai Rosario, Safea Mauai, Maui Ahuna, Zakaia Michaels, Rydge Ishii and Paul Antony – were invited to the exclusive and elite Area Code Baseball tryouts, where the best prospects from around the country showcased their skills in front of pro and college scouts.
“It was kind of a different energy,” Mauai, a Waiakea Warrior, said. “In a BIIF game or at states, that’s game energy. When we played Baldwin on Maui, the whole island was there.
“This was more serious, more of a business-type energy. You had to go there and show everything you got.”
Rosario, Mauai and Ahuna earned the opportunity by “taking over,” Wong said, at a pro showcase on Oahu. The three invites to the Area Code tryouts were already a Big Island standard, but the number swelled based, in part, on Wong’s recommendation.
“That’s unbelievable for Big Island baseball to get seven players,” Wong said, also alluding to Konawaena junior Bronson Rivera, who was at the tryout as well. “Shows how hard they are working and how much we put into baseball on the Big Island.
“I’ve had (some of) them since they were 7. Just shows they’re getting stronger, quicker, faster and the progress they went through.”
On July 8 in Santa Barbara, Calif., the seven players went through the usual showcase drills they’ve become accustomed to – albeit in front of a more sophisticated audience. For the infielders, grounders were hit to their left, right and directly at them and they had to field a slow roller. Players took batting practice, scrimmaged and they were timed in the 60-yard dash.
“About 300 scouts were watching us,” Ahuna, a Hilo Viking, said. “You have to be good to get (anywhere).”
The competition stuck out as well.
“The most eye-opening experience, besides seeing all the scouts, of course,” Mauai said, “was playing with a bunch of people who are equal to you or just a little better than you.”
Rosario, Mauai and Ahuna each made the Area Code Baseball Games and will return to California, this time in Long Beach, from Aug. 5-9. Rosario a Waiakea Warrior, and Ahuna are on the Brewers team, while Mauai is on the Yankees.
All three have committed to Division I schools – Mauai to the UH-Manoa, Ahuna to Kansas and Rosario recently verballed led to Cal Baptist – but they’re each chasing their ultimate goal: getting selected in the Major League Baseball draft out of high school.
“Me, Safea and Kalai are training every day to get a step closer to that,” Ahuna said.
“This is my first chance to make it as big leaguer and I’m not taking this opportunity lightly,” Mauai said. “I’m taking full advantage of this because not every kid gets the opportunity.”
On a midweek day at his batting cage on Makaala Street, Kaha Wong keeps one eye on the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game on TV to watch his son Kolten, and he has one hand on his phone to track updates on son Kean, a member for the Rays’ Triple A affiliate in Durham, N.C.
Rosario, he said, is naturally gifted and possesses a bat that hits balls with exit velocities that make scouts drool.
“He’s got raw power, he just has to recognize the curveball and changeup and stay back,” Kaha Wong said, “and we’ll be watching him on TV like I’m watching my son.”
Rosario said most of the scouts he talked to in California kept their focus off the field.
“Mostly just staying out of trouble,” Rosario said. “They know you have talent. They don’t really look at your talent, they just want you to stay out of trouble.”
Getting invited to the Area Code tryouts is akin to getting nominated for an Academy Award – just to be considered is an honor.
“Just to get the opportunity to play in front of the scouts is special,” Ishii said, “because I got looks from colleges.
“After the showcase we all took a picture, and to see all the players from Hawaii was pretty special.”
Kamehameha’s Ishii and Michaels are each sifting through college offers and narrowing down the possibilities, and Hilo High’s Antony is trying to trying to raise his profile as well.
Antony called his invite a surprise, and he said he felt he could have done better.
“Way more pressure than in (BIIF game),” Antony said. “You have to relax and be you and play your own game.”
It will hardly be the last time a decision-maker watches him play.
Scouts figure to come out in droves next season for Vikings and Warriors games thanks in large part to Rosario, Mauai and Ahuna, who keeps in touch with former Vikings teammate Micah Bello, who was drafted in the second round in 2018.
When scouts came to watch Bello during his senior season, that raised the exposure level of his teammates as well.
“Because of Micah, I got so many scholarship offers,” Ahuna said.
Michaels, a right-hander, is the one player in the group who would like to pitch in college. He is in line to be Kamehameha’s ace, but he took middle infield drills at the tryout.
“I think we all represented Hawaii well and showed a lot of class,” he said.