Ex-Mililani standouts lead Wave to baseball title
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
In a tournament full of former high school standouts from Maryland to O'ahu, two unsung products from Mililani High School proved to be the biggest stars.
Cy Donald, a 2001 graduate, and Adam Inaba, who graduated just a month ago, led the Hawai'i Wave to its third straight Best of the West Baseball Classic championship yesterday with a 4-2 victory over Hardtke World of Baseball (San Jose, Calif.) at a damp Aloha Stadium.
The 10th annual tournament featured 10 all-star teams, including eight from the Mainland, of players aged 19-and-under.
Donald's RBI double in the third inning sparked a four-run rally, and Inaba struck out four and allowed only one hit in three innings of shutout relief.
Donald was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after going 10-for-14 in six games. In Saturday night's 13-3 semifinal victory over the Hurricanes (Seattle-Tacoma), Donald went 3-for-3 and scored four runs.
Inaba, the tournament's Outstanding Pitcher, came within one out of a perfect game during a 5-0 pool play win over Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.) on Tuesday. Desert Mountain's only baserunner reached after a single with two outs in the seventh (final) inning.
Both ex-Trojans are relatively new to the spotlight.
Donald started for four years of varsity ball at Mililani, but was only a second-team shortstop on the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's 2001 Western Division All-Star team. After receiving zero scholarship offers for baseball, Donald enrolled at the University of San Francisco and approached the coaches there about walking on.
"They didn't know who I was," Donald said. "Fall ball was like a tryout, and it was tough not knowing if I was going to get cut."
Donald not only made the team, he ended up seeing significant infield action and batted .325, including .352 in conference games and .391 when leading off an inning.
He received honorable mention on Collegiate Baseball newspaper's Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team.
"It didn't surprise me, because even at Mililani he was a hard worker — the first one at practice and the last to leave," Inaba said. "He's a good competitor and a good all-around guy."
Inaba also has seen a similar turn of events. He was left off the OIA West's first and second All-Star teams this season, but he pitched a four-hitter in the state tournament and was soon offered a full ride to play for UH-Hilo.
Inaba said his fastball is clocked in the "low 80s" but he also relies on a curve, cut fastball, change-up and knuckleball to keep batters honest.
"I just try to work hard," he said.
Corrections: Kevin Khan, a 2001 graduate of Mid-Pacific, went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs in the Wave's semifinal victory on Saturday. His last name was misspelled and he was affiliated with a different school in yesterday's story. Also, Justin Pate graduated from MPI a month ago. He was listed at another grade level in the same story.
