It's been some season for the Ka'aihue baseball brothers.

Kala Ka'aihue, younger brother of big-leaguer Kila Ka'aihue, was named Most Valuable Player of the Southern League playoffs after helping the Mississippi Braves to the league championship over the weekend at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss.

Earlier, Kila was named Player of the Year of the Double-A Texas League.

Mississippi is the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, which signed Kala ('Iolani 2003) as an undrafted free agent in 2005.

"It was an honor," said Kala yesterday while heading to Kauffman Stadium to watch his brother, Kila, a September callup with the Kansas City Royals. "We played some close games all the way through."

The best-of-five series against the Carolina Mudcats went the distance, ending Saturday with a 3-2 win in 10 innings.

Kala hit .364 overall in the two-tiered playoffs, but .429 with three home runs and six RBI in the championship series. Mississippi swept Birmingham, 3-0, in the first round of the playoffs.

The right-handed hitting first baseman hit .274 with 23 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 61 RBI. He had a .417 on-base percentage and a .457 slugging average.

"I started off slow, but gradually got comfortable the last three months of the season," Kala said.

Kala said he is hoping to play winter baseball in either the Dominican Republic or Venezuela. If not, he said he has been welcomed back to play for the Ho-nolulu Sharks of Hawaii Winter Baseball, which opens Sept. 27.