Damien graduate Chris Truby returns to Hawai'i as hitting coach for the West Oahu CaneFires of Hawaii Winter Baseball.

Truby, who graduated from Damien in 1992, was hitting coach for the High-A Lynchburg Hillcats, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished his playing career in 2007 while playing for Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis.

Truby played in parts of four big-league seasons with the Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Montreal Expos and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (before they became just Rays). He signed with Houston in 1992 as a nondrafted free agent.

The offseason developmental league begins play Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium and Hans L'Orange Park. Players will be arriving this week.

Atlanta Braves farmhand Kala Ka'aihue, who helped the Double-A Mississippi Braves win the Southern League championship, is listed with the Honolulu Sharks. He played for them in 2006. However, the 2003 'Iolani graduate indicated earlier this week he was looking into playing in the Dominican Republic or Venezuela.

The only other player with a remote tie to Hawai'i is CaneFires outfielder Greg Burns, a farmhand of the Florida Marlins. Burns signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Hawai'i. He was a third-round pick of the Marlins out of a California high school in 2004.

The league has players from 23 Major League clubs, six Nippon Professional Baseball teams and one from the Korea Baseball Organization.

Rosters will be published later this week.