HONOLULU -- For the second straight year, the annual Chace Numata Senior All-Star Classic had a dramatic finish.
The Aloha Stars rallied from a 6-0 deficit to turn back the Hawaiian Stars in extra innings, 9-8, Friday afternoon at Les Murakami Stadium in the fifth edition of the baseball all-star game for Hawai’i high school graduating seniors.
The game honors the memory of Chace Numata, a 2010 graduate of Pearl City. Numata was a 14th-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Phillies before landing in the Detroit Tigers organization. Numata died in 2019 from injuries in a skateboard mishap while he was playing for the Tigers’ Double-A team, the Erie SeaWolves.
His father, Nathan “Homey” Numata, serves as one of the coaches on the all-star teams.
“I’ve known coach Homey for a really long time now. They’ve coached me when I was in youth ages,” said Kamehameha-Kapalama’s Greyson Osbun.
Michael Lasquero HSRN
Nevada-bound Greyson Osbun poses for a photo with coach Nathan "Homey" Numata after being named the most valuable player of the Chace Numata Senior All-Star Classic.
“To get a chance to honor his son and play in this game was huge. I’m super honored and humble to be here today.”
Osbun, who signed with Nevada, was named the most valuable player of the game after picking up the win on the mound for team Aloha, which comprised of players from the ILH and the BIIF.
He wasn’t expecting to pitch because Nevada had him resting his arm after the high school season, but was given the opportunity to pitch after team Aloha tied the game at seven in the top of the ninth to the dismay of team Hawaiian, the designated home team.
Osbun delivered with a scoreless ninth and did not allow an earned run in the 10th inning (the runner that starts at second to start the extra inning do not count towards ERA).
“I felt good. I think adrenaline really kicked in towards the end, have an opportunity to win this game. I think tomorrow I’ll probably feel it a little more,” said Osbun.
Iolani’s Treyden Chong Kee was named the offensive player of the game after scoring two runs and delivering a two RBI triple in the top of the fifth to get team Aloha on the scoreboard. He also placed second in the home-to-home dash with a time of 14.75 seconds.
“It was fun, I really pride myself in myself speed,” said Chong Kee, who will play his first collegiate season at Central Arizona. “Being able to do that and show off my speed was a great experience.”
Chong Kee credits his speed to the hours spent in the weight room.
“Deadlifting a lot,” he said. “It’s all in your hamstrings.”
Pearl City’s Noah Bernal was the only one that was faster than Chong Kee in the home-to-home dash with a time of 14.5 seconds.
The defensive player of the game was Maui’s Nick Nashiwa, who spent time at right field, second base and catcher for team Hawaiian, which was made up of players from the OIA, MIL and KIF.
Kashiwa also won the ‘pop-time’ catcher’s competition, throwing from home plate to second base in 1.77 seconds.
“I was pretty surprised because I wasn’t really throwing that much. I was just going to see what happens, have some fun since I’m only here for the day,” said Nashiwa.
“It’s a real blessing to be out here and playing with these guys. Everybody here is super talented. I just come out here to have fun, do me and whatever happens happens. I’m just super grateful for every opportunity that I get and every opportunity to come play baseball somewhere.”
Nashiwa, who will play at Golden West College next year, helped record the first two outs of the ninth inning while team Hawaiian was holding on to a 7-6 lead.
With runners at the corners, he caught a pop fly at second base for the first out. For the second out of the inning, Kamehameha-Maui catcher Duke Aloy threw to second to catch the runner on first from stealing. The throw and the tag by Nashiwa was not in time, but Nashiwa threw right back to home with Chong Kee advancing from third and Aloy was able to make the tag to preserve the lead momentarily.
“I always know that Duke got me with a good throw at second base. I wasn’t too worried, but when I had to dive for that ball, I was kind of like ‘I know he’s going to run’ because Treyden is an aggressive runner. I didn’t really think, I just got up and threw it,” Nashiwa said of the 2-4-2 out.
“I knew Duke had my back with a good tag on the other end. I just had the faith in him to get a good tag and get him out.”
Leilehua’s Blaze Manutai got the scoring started in the bottom of the third with a sac fly to bring Aloy home for the first run of the game. Pearl City’s Ethan Higashionna then hit a bases clearing triple to make it a 4-0 game before he later scored after Waianae’s Chaseten Rice reached on an error.
Moanalua’s Kyler Shojinaga pushed team Hawaiian’s lead to 6-0 in the fourth with a sac fly to drive in Mililani’s Kai Hirayama, who started the game on the mound and rotated at center field.
Team Aloha got into the scoring column in the fifth with Chong Kee’s two RBI triple. Kamehameha’s Logan Sanchez later brought Chong Kee home to make it a 6-3 game.
PAC-5’s Ethan Lee had a two RBI double in the top of the eighth to make it a 6-5 game before Kamehameha’s Kainoa Kaneshiro tied the game on an RBI.
Mililani’s Kaleb Wada’s two-out RBI single to left in the bottom of the eighth regained the lead for team Hawaiian before Mid-Pacific’s Adam Kobayashi drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game in the top of the ninth.
Chong Kee started the 10th inning as a base runner on second base and would score on a passed ball with the bases loaded. Kamehameha’s Dillon Andres had a sac fly to center field to score Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Justin Kubojiri to make it a 9-7 game in favor of team Aloha.
Mililani’s Ryne Yoshimura was the base runner that started on second to begin the bottom of the frame and reached third after a groundout by Aloy. Yoshimura would score on a passed ball before a flyout to center meant team Hawaiian was down to its last out.
Osbun gave up a four-pitch walk to the next batter, but came right back with a game-ending strikeout to cap the comeback for team Aloha.