WAILUKU — This year was different for the Maui High School baseball team.

No more close calls. No more settling for second place and a spot in the state tournament.

Nope, 2008 for the Sabers was about winning the Maui Interscholastic League pennant for the first time in a decade and advancing to the state's final four.

It is 2009 that will be different — as in much less busy on the athletic fields — for Mitchell Crim.

Crim will put down the football after leading the MIL in receptions last season; he will put away the soccer ball after being the Sabers' most significant offensive threat for the last two seasons; he will hang up the spikes that have taken him to the state 200-meter dash finals each of the last two years.

With Oregon Institute of Technology awaiting, it will be baseball only for the 6-foot, 150-pound, four-sport senior, who was chosen MIL Baseball Player of the Year in voting by the league's coaches.

''I will probably miss the soccer the most, but I can always go out and play makule league or whatever,'' Crim said to The Maui News. ''I don't really like running, so there goes track, and football is just something I did to say I did it.''

Crim is looking forward to being a one-sport athlete.

''As long as I work hard and focus all my energies on baseball, it will give me the opportunity to get better,'' Crim said.

Maui coach Lee Yonamine, chosen by his peers as MIL Coach of the Year, said there is little doubt of that. Crim hit .489 as the leadoff man and went 4-0 on the mound, all big wins down the stretch.

''Pretty much he was the guy carrying the team as far as the end of the season,'' Yonamine said. ''He did it with the bat and pitching. He stepped up in big situations. I always thought, 'It is too bad we didn't have that kid concentrating on one sport.' Mitchell does a lot.''

Yonamine said that OIT, an NAIA school in Klamath Falls that finished 22-30 this season, is getting a quality player.

''He has never been dedicated to one sport and never had a full offseason or had time to lift weights consistently,'' Yonamine said. ''With college training and playing only baseball, Mitch can go a long way. He has good height, great speed and can go get a lot of balls, a good arm, he hits for average. I think he is a steal for them.''

University of Hawai'i coach Mike Trapasso watched Crim and the Sabers play in the King Kekaulike Tournament, but Crim said that while UH offered a chance to walk on, OIT offered a scholarship.

Crim is joined on the first team by teammates Travis Manuel, an outfielder with a .410 batting average, catcher Jordan Inamasu (.477) and utility player Jacob Babauta (1-0, three saves); Kamehameha-Maui first baseman Naea Kalehuawehe, pitcher Isaiah Kaneakua (5-1) and third baseman Kelton Kealoha; St. Anthony pitcher Michael Jahns (.583, 7-2) and second baseman Ryan Rodriguez (.517); Baldwin outfielder Skyler Cabacungan (.455, 2-1, three saves) and shortstop Jordan Negrini (.500); and Moloka'i utility player Kaden Tabil (.455, 3-2).

Cabacungan and Jahns also drew consideration for Player of the Year honors. Jahns, who is headed to Northwestern on a baseball scholarship, was the 2007 MIL Player of the Year. Jahns, Crim, Cabacungan and Rodriguez are all repeat first-team selections.

Crim said that ending the school's 10-year drought by winning the MIL pennant and then beating Kamehameha-Hawai'i to advance to the state semifinals made for a season he will never forget.

''To be in the top four in the state, to be part of the group that set the path for next year and hopefully beyond for Maui High as it starts to return to what it was before — that's special,'' Crim said.

A group of assistant coaches, including Jonah Abreu, Ian Shimabuku, Brent Fukagawa and Chase Corniel, were all on the 1998 team that won the most recent previous baseball title for Maui.

''They just kept telling us to stay focused — don't get too far ahead of yourself with the wins — it could all end in an instant,'' Crim said. ''The regular-season (title) didn't matter if we didn't win in the (MIL) tournament to win the overall title.''

Yonamine said a large part of the coach of the year award had to go to his assistants.

''As far as for us, last year we talked about getting back to the way things were in their days, a commitment to the program,'' Yonamine said. ''We did the weight training in the offseason, we attended the speed and quickness workouts on a regular basis, and we ended up cutting some returnees this season because of commitment issues. It was all about commitment for these guys this year and it obviously worked out.''

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