Aloha spirit on baseball diamond

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

College of the Siskiyous' "Hawai'i Nine," from left, Keoni Kapana, Desmond Yagin, Daniel Sekigawa, Silas Ah Sui, Joey Johnson, Glen Baker, Mark Soriano, Cheyne Todani, and Waiahuli Dancil. Seven of them started almost every game this season. Taryn Wood • College of the Siskiyous

No wonder they play Hawaiian music over the public address speakers between innings at College of the Siskiyous home baseball games in Northern California.

Seven of the team's nine starters are Hawai'i high school graduates.

Co-coach James Frisbie wants more. "These guys never quit," he said Monday. "We were down five runs going into the bottom of the ninth in one game, and we scored six and won. We won 10 more games than last year."

Siskiyous is a two-year college in Weed, Calif., about two miles below the summit of 14,162-foot Mt. Shasta and 40 miles from the Oregon border

Two sophomores from Hawai'i were chosen first-team All-Golden Valley Conference by league coaches this week. They are right fielder Mark Soriano (Leilehua '00) and first baseman/pitcher Silas Ah Sui (Nanakuli '99).

Soriano led the conference in batting at .434 and led the team in all games at .394 (54-for-137). He will graduate this month.

Ah Sui batted .324 (48-for-148) with 50 RBIs and nine home runs in 41 games. He was second in the conference in home runs and RBIs.

The population of Weed is 3,062 and its name is descriptive. "We've got a McDonald's," Frisbie said.

Freshman second baseman Cheyne Todani (Leilehua '01) batted .315 (41-for-130) and stole 16 bases, third in the conference.

"To tell you the truth, Weed is actually really boring, but it is nice," Todani said. "We played some games in some weather we've never seen before, coming from Hawai'i.

"We don't do much but baseball. There is nothing else to do. They have a four-plex movie theater with auditoriums the size of living rooms. I laughed first time I walked in, I never saw one so small."

Frisbie acknowledges that the players "don't dig the area, but they blend in real well. Some coaches would try to force them into a Mainland mold, but I let them be themselves," he said.

Siskiyous assistant coach Steve Seki, son of Pearl City High coach Mel Seki, started the Pineapple Pipeline when he recruited Ah Sui and another player two years ago, Frisbie said. "Since then it's been word of mouth. The kids here are having a pretty good experience and we really enjoy them a lot. They make it real interesting," he said.

Todani e-mailed Homegrown Report, saying, "We would like to let Hawai'i know how we are representing them."

Others at Siskiyous:

• Sophomore second baseman-designated hitter Daniel Sekigawa (Leilehua '99) batted .333 (51-for-153), 27 RBIs in 37 games.

• Sophomore third baseman Keoni Kapana (Campbell '99) .294 (37-for-126), 21 RBIs in 35 games.

• Freshman catcher Glen Baker (Campbell '99) .273 (30-for-110), 19 RBIs in 32 games

• Freshman outfielder Waiahuli "Wai" Dancil (King Kealakehe '00) .281 (38-for-135), 18 RBIs in 41 games.

• Freshman pitcher Joey Johnson (Campbell '99) "will do some great things next season," Frisbie said.

• Red-shirt freshman right fielder Desmond Yagin (Leilehua '00) was used mainly as a pinch runner.

An eighth starter from Hawai'i, Maka Vickers of Nanakuli, left the team part way through the season but remained enrolled.