Tim Arakawa and I put the final words on the 2022 Five Tool Hawaii Sandlot Classic. Notes on both the upperclass and underclass standout performers from the week. New article here!

Day 4 Upperclass takeaways from the Sandlot…

Brennen Panis’ arm works quite well. Up to 86 MPH from a 3/4th arm slot with some whip. Flashed some other tools during the week and is one to keep an eye on out of Aiea.

Christian Dominno made two spectacular catches in left field that I thought needed to be talked about. Sadly we missed the first on film (technical difficulties), but that was a great way to start the game with making them back to back.

And speaking of great grabs — Nathaniel Wagner in left, Bostan Ujimori in right and Radon Sebastian also in right all made legit catches in the outfield.

Isaac Ahokovi tore the cover off the ball, but unfortunately for him the ball was either right at the defender or tracked down. There’s some legitimate middle-of-the-lineup type pop in his bat that’s going to play at the next level.

Kuhio Aloy pitched one inning, but it was quite special. It took him a second to get loose on the first batter, but then went on to hit 93 MPH twice in his outing sitting in the 87-91 MPH range. From a mound standpoint, Aloy has quite the presence and is an off-speed pitch away from potentially getting big time offers as a pitcher.

Reyn Gaspar works hard behind the dish. There was one point in the Championship Game where I lost count of how many balls he continuously blocked. It was extremely impressive how hard he worked behind the dish for his pitchers.

While I’m trying not to mention players twice from their position, I want to give a shoutout to the MVPs for a great week with their stats:

Most Valuable Pitcher: Loren Iwata went 5.0 IP with eight strikeouts, five hits, one earned run, and two walks.

Most Valuable Hitter: Aydan Lobetos went 5-for-9 (.556) with one double, four runs batted in and two runs scored.

Tournament MVP: Coen Goeas went 5-for-8 (.625) with one RBI and one run scored. On the mound, Goes went 3.0 IP with seven strikeouts, one hit, no earned runs, and no walks.