OMAHA, Nebraska — Hilo High School class of 2019 graduate Maui Ahuna has made it to the biggest stage in collegiate baseball, the NCAA College World Series, where he will play this weekend for the University of Tennessee.
Ahuna and the Volunteers will begin their CWS run Saturday at 7 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. local time), facing off against LSU.
Ahuna has been getting widespread recognition and picking up accolades since high school — such as 2019 BIIF DI Player of the Year — but his affinity for baseball has been lifelong.
“We knew he was talented from when he was at least five years old,” said father Bully Ahuna. “He always played up with the older kids.”
As a young boy, Maui played alongside other local standouts — such as UH-Manoa infielder and former UH-Hilo player Jacob Igawa, fellow Rainbow Warrior Stone Miyao and Micah Bello, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018.
For Bully, watching his son go to the CWS feels like witnessing the culmination of decades of work.
“It’s awesome, it’s rewarding,” he said. “I’m not gonna lie — me along with my wife and Maui, we put in the time for him to get to where he’s at now. We sacrificed a lot for it, he sacrificed a lot too. Coach Kaha (Wong) was also a big part of this.”
Wong coached Ahuna in the Big Island Wood Bat Academy for years — and remembers him as a talented and lighthearted player who never took anything seriously, but was always respectful and earnest.
“Sometimes I yell at him because he comes to the batting cage late and I don’t like that,” Wong said. “He comes back, he go, ‘Coach I’m sorry, I’m trying to make ammends,’ and he brings me Burger King. I laugh at him, I said ‘I don’t want the burger, I want you here on time.’”
Wong predicted that following the CWS, Ahuna will be picked up within the first three rounds of the upcoming MLB draft.
Wong’s sons — Kolten, of the Seattle Mariners and Kean, who was traded to the Chicago White Sox yesterday — have kept in touch with Maui throughout his college career.
“Both of my sons called (Ahuna) and congratulated him,” Coach Wong said. “He keeps in contact with Kolten and Kean a lot.”
The junior has consistently been one of Vols’ top infielders this season, and attracted media attention earlier this week when he hit a solo homer during game three of the NCAA Hattiesburg Super Regional — which ended with the Vols blanking Southern Miss 5-0 to earn their bid in the CWS.
“Maui Ahuna delivered perhaps his best offensive game of the season in Tennessee’s decisive 5-0 win in game 3 of the Hattiesburg Super Regional,” wrote Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel in an opinion editorial piece. “He had a pair of walks, including a nine-pitch effort, and slugged an opposite-field homer.”
He also scored the go-ahead run in the 14th inning of the regional semifinal against Clemson two weeks ago.
This season, Ahuna has batted .302 with eight homers and 41 RBIs. His fielding percentage is .952, and he has notched 51 putouts and a whopping 111 assists — recording just seven errors.
This year was Ahuna’s first playing for Tennessee. He played for Kansas his freshman and sophomore years.
His sophomore season with the Jayhawks earned him mentions on the 2022 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, 2022 All-Big 12 1st Team and the 2022 Cambria College Classic All-Tournament Team.
Going into this year, he was named to the 2023 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watchlist, NCBWA’s 2023 Preseason All-America 2nd Team, the 2023 Preseason All-SEC Second Team and the 2023 Preseason All-America 3rd Teams of D1Baseball, Collegiate Baseball News and Perfect Game.
Other teams entering the CWS bracket include No.1 seed Wake Forest, No. 2 seed Florida, TCU, Oral Roberts, Stanford and Virginia.
The Vols went 1-2 against LSU in SEC play at the start of April, losing 5-2 and 6-4 before ending the series with a 14-7 win. If Tennessee beats LSU Saturday, it will face the winner of a matchup between Wake Forest and Stanford on Monday.
The CWS will be broadcast on ESPN, and its finals series will begin June 24.