Former Moloka'i standout swaps a bat for a bible
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Baseballs, bats and gloves have been a constant in Apana Nakayama's life since he started playing T-ball when he was 6. They have almost never been out of his sight.
He used them to help Moloka'i High win state high school championships in 1999 and 2000 — his dad was the coach and Apana was the state Position Player of the Year in 2000 as a catcher — and he just finished his second all-conference season at Utah Valley State.
But starting in August, Nakayama might pack away his baseball gear for two years. He is awaiting instructions on where he will be sent to be a missionary for the Mormon Church.
"All my life I've wanted to go out and serve a mission for the Lord," Nakayama said. "It's the most important thing in my life now. I can come back and play when it's done."
Mormon missions, started by most church members at age 19, involve six-days-a-week, dawn-to-dusk recruiting.
"We will have one day a week to wash our clothes and go shopping," Nakayama said. "That would be the only time I could play catch, but it depends on the mission president, if he lets us go and throw a ball.
"I won't be able to see the weight room, either," he said. "I'll miss the weight room."
Baseball fans at Utah Valley State — a junior college in Orem — felt Nakayama was on a different kind of mission the past two years.
He started every game both years, either as catcher, or as designated hitter in the second game of doubleheaders.
He batted .369 (55-for-149) this season and .358 last year in a league that uses wooden bats.
Nakayama led his team this year in batting average, home runs (6), doubles (14) and slugging average (.624) and was second in RBIs with 34. He set a school record in bases on balls with 46 because Scenic West Conference teams tried to pitch around him.
Coaches this year named him the Outstanding Male Athlete for all Utah Valley State teams.
Nakayama thinks the reason he was not drafted the past three years was that he told major-league scouts he would go on a church mission. He will be 22 1/2 when he returns.
Four-year colleges are still interested. "BYU and coach (Mike) Trapasso at Hawai'i both told me they would be looking forward to my return in two years," he said.
Nakayama still has a redshirt year available if he needs to get his bat, glove and baseball out of storage and get back into shape.
MORE BASEBALL
• Pomona Pitzer (Calif.): It was a historic season for the Sagehens. They won a conference championship for the first time in 47 years and went 18-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games.
Senior left fielder Alex Siele (Seabury Hall '98, of Kula) was chosen first-team all-conference and sophomore Joshua Cardwell (Punahou '00, of Maunalani Heights) was a relief pitcher for Pomona-Pitzer.
Siele batted .290 (40-for-138) with 36 RBIs in 41 games.
Cardwell (2-0) was the set-up reliever, compiling a 4.56 earned run average. "We think he can be one of our best pitchers," coach Paul Svagdis said. "We expect him to work into the starting rotation."
Siele and Cardwell delivered Hawaiian punch when the Sagehens needed it most, with their unbeaten record on the line in their final conference game.
Pomona Pitzer was down a run when Cardwell came on with one out and a runner on in the sixth inning. He set down Redlands in the sixth and seventh innings, setting up for the team's all-region closer.
Pomona-Pitzer tied the score in the eighth and Siele hit a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to win it, 7-6.
The Sagehens' season ended in the NCAA-III regional tournament in Texas.
