Kahai Shishido, who guided Baldwin High to the 1995 state baseball championship and 10 Maui Interscholastic League titles in the past 15 years, has resigned as the Bears' head coach.

Shishido, 44, said last night he thought about stepping down next summer, but unfavorable reaction from a few parents at the end of last season convinced him to turn in his resignation early.

The parents' reaction came after Shishido dismissed one player from the team for fighting and suspended 12 or 13 others for witnessing the fight and not taking any action to stop it.

Baldwin forfeited two crucial MIL games as a result, but the Bears won the league title anyway before losing in the first round of the state tournament.

It was the 14th time in Shishido's 15 years as head coach that Baldwin qualified for the state tournament.

"I never anticipated getting opposition (to the dismissal and suspensions), but some of the reaction by a few of the parents shocked me," Shishido said. "I've been blessed in the past with really good parents who were very supportive, but just those two or three parents last year made me think about what we were doing and what high school athletics is supposed to be about.

"When winning becomes more important than morals and ethics and building character, then maybe it's time for me to step down."

Shishido will stay on as a teacher and assistant athletic director at Baldwin, but said his coaching staff also resigned from the baseball program.

"That's the sad thing about it — all of the young coaches who could have really helped the kids not just with baseball, but in teaching them how to do things right," Shishido said. "We won a lot of championships, but we wanted to do it the right way, ethically and morally."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.