There was a time when Brennen Panis was like a baby brother, tagging along with his family as dad coached his two younger brothers on their Aiea Pirates club baseball team.
He kept up quite well. Now he’s a senior with a .538 batting average at the plate and a 5-0 record on the mound in OIA play as Aiea broke through and went 10-2 in the tough OIA West regular season this spring. Na Alii are one win away from returning to the state tournament, and coach Brennan Alejo’s band of mature, spirited and gritty Na Alii could win the program’s first league title since 2015, when Ryan Kato guided Aiea to a Division II crown.
Kato led Aiea to league titles in ’04 and ’06, before D-II was implemented in ’09. In all, Aiea has 10 OIA baseball championships.
Last year, new Aiea Na Alii coach Brennan Alejo got a close-up look of his players during a Pirates game in a game.
“He came out to watch us play. It was good,” Panis recalled. “I like Coach Brennan.”
Alejo saw enough to know what was needed, and not needed.
“We knew exactly what we were getting out of Brennen. The pitching, defense and hitting. A well-rounded player all the way around,” Alejo said. “He’s kind of freelancing. Not much is said to him by our coaches. We’re not trying to change too much. He is in that groove. He found something in his game and he’s sticking with it. He’s found consistency.”
Competing with larger schools in the growing West Oahu region has never been easy, but Alejo’s first season as head coach has been marked by the basics. Contact hitting to the middle and opposite fields, stellar defense and a pitching staff that includes no-nonsense efficiency from seniors like Aidan Yoshida (5-0, 1.63 ERA) and Panis (5-0, 0.42 ERA).
Seldom do Panis (26 strikeouts, five walks in 33 innings pitched) and Yoshida (14 Ks, seven walks, 30 IP) go to three-ball counts. In a season with a surplus of pitching artistry — a multitude of aces who paint the corners — Aiea’s success relies on the precision of the two aces.
Panis takes it to another level with his prowess as a hitter. Countless hours in batting cages and a relentless dedication led his father, Lad, to invest in a cage and pitching machine at their home. It’s better than Disneyland for a hitter.
“It’s just learning from the mistakes you make in the game and at practice. You make sure you fix it,” the right-handed hitter and pitcher said. “When I started play tee ball, it stayed with me. I hit with some teammates in our cage. The machine can throw pretty hard, I would say over 90 mph. We go in the 80s. It can throw a curve ball, change-ups, two-seamers.”
Panis is certain the machine can also throw a knuckleball. It’s a bit of heaven on earth when a teammate has a cage open all summer.
“I would take around 100 cuts, we take turns. Then we pick up the balls and go to the ’pen,” Panis said. “I tried to do light throwing every day, then Fridays I’d throw my hardest.”
His fastball is in the upper ’80s, but with his precision and change of speeds, is difficult to time for most opposing batters.
“He throws all three pitches for strikes. His curve ball comes at different depths and speeds,” said Alejo, a 2009 Aiea graduate who played at Sacramento State, Yuba College and Concordia. “He knows how to pitch. He doesn’t throw a 95-mph fastball, but he knows when to throw it 82 and when to throw it 87. He just understands. He’s not afraid to throw it inside. So many high school hitters worry about the pitch away, they get beat.”
Chalk this up to the consistent work in the home bullpen.
“Most pitchers are worried about hitting the batter, giving them a free base. I just feel like I can get in the zone and throw a strike. I know where the ball is going to go,” he said.
Coach Alejo coached Aiea’s JV team for five seasons, then stepped away for three before being hired to lead the varsity team.
“I guess he’s our Shohei Ohtani. He’s just a guy you just plug in there and you know he’s going to hit and he’s going to pitch. That’s the dream of every kid, straight Little League style,” he said. “You do it all.”
When he’s not on the mound, Panis is at second or third base. He has plenty of speed for the outfield, but his versatility allows Alejo to use infielders to pitch. At the plate, however, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Panis rarely wastes a swing. He is 21-for-39 in league play with 12 RBIs and 14 runs scored. He has two home runs and three stole bases with a .486 on-base percentage and an .872 slugging average.
Panis was on a tear from the start of preseason, when he hit .450 with a 1.488 OPS, six RBIs and five runs scored in eight contests. He was 1-0 in starts and one relief appearance with an ERA of 1.55, nine strikeouts and no walks in nine innings.
“His confidence and his demeanor are starting to grow to a point where he’s believing in himself a lot more,” Alejo noted. “You can see that glow. He knows he’s the guy, but in a very humble way. He’s a very humble kid.”
Panis also wins in the classroom with a 3.7 grade-point average. He is committed to play for Chad Konishi at Chaminade next season. Staying on an even keel is his superpower, applicable to all tasks in life. His other superpower is hunger.
“I think I’m still growing. I can be better. I’ve made a lot of improvements. There’s a lot more room to go,” he said.
Dad is proud as can be, by his son’s side for travel ball with HBG (Hawaii Baseball Group) and Team Hawaii, and the rest of Brennen’s offseason baseball journeys near and far.
“Brennan has always been a great team player. Kind of a quiet, shy guy. You would never know that he’s the best pitcher or hitter on the team,” Lad Panis said. “That has always been his style. We are so proud of him. He has worked really hard to get to where he is today.”
Lad Panis played first base and outfield for Waipahu during a 1985 OIA title run. In many ways, Brennen takes after his mother, Mari Panis.
“Brennen is his own person and almost opposite in personality than his dad,” she said. “His academic and athletic achievements aren’t what make me most proud. I love that he leads his life with humility and doesn’t feel the need to show off. Watching him grow up into who he is today has been one of the greatest joys in my life.”
Aiea’s success so far has not fazed the team. Nine seniors, including shortstop Kylan Kono (team-high 15 runs scored) and center fielder Bostan Ujimori (.394, 12 runs, 4.12 GPA) are all in with Alejo and his emphasis on unity. Having that bond as Aiea Pirates hasn’t hurt at all.
“There’s almost half our (Pirates) team on our roster. We reminisce all the time, even the memories we made last year, too,” Panis said. “We’re not thinking about legacy that much. We’re playing baseball, game by game. My legacy will be that I helped the other guys learn, the freshmen and sophomores. This is their first time playing varsity, some of them. It’s good for them.”
Senior first baseman Shayden Muraoka will miss the bond, but it will last forever.
“When I first met Brennen, he was a quiet kid and I became friends with him when I found out he played baseball, too,” Muraoka said. “He’s a reliable and overall nice guy.”
Alejo feels good every day with this squad.
“There’s something with this class. The kids are gravitating toward the seniors. Brennen and the rest of the seniors are pretty quiet, but once they are in between the lines, they become gamers. They’re all in and they’re not afraid to fail. They establish that standard,” he said. “It’s a pretty awesome. I love my experience.”
So does Panis, in his low-key way. He embraces the grind, giving up much of his otherwise free time. Rising early for seminary (bible study).
“I feel like it was worth the sacrifice. Starting the day off with my heavenly father and Jesus Christ on my mind before I do anything. I feel like my parents pushing me was the best thing to happen to me because if I wasn’t pushed by them, I wouldn’t be the student-athlete I am today.”
BRENNEN PANIS
Aiea baseball • 5-10, 160 • Pitcher/third base/second base
>> Top 3 movies/TV shows
1. “The Irregular Show”
2. “Star Wars” series
3. “Outer Banks”
>> Top 3 foods
1. Gummy bears
2. Sprite
3. Peanuts. lightly salted
>> Top 3 homemade foods
1. Mom’s spare ribs
2. Dad’s steak
3. Mom’s salmon
“My mom (Mari) makes spare ribs at least once a month. Salmon, maybe like once every two months. My dad (Lad) makes steak once a month. I can make steak. I don’t know about the spare ribs.”
>> Top 3 music artists
1. Drake
2. Maoli
3. The Green
“It depends on what I’m feeling like listening to. Drake just hypes you up. Maoli, I like the beat of his music and his flow. The Green has a good flow, too.”
>> Favorite athlete: Ronald Acuña Jr.
“I like the way he plays the game. He hypes his team up and everything. He’s a fun player to watch.”
>> Favorite team: Miami Marlins
“I used to always like watching them growing up. My family’s not really baseball fans. They watch more football than baseball. I like when Miami had Giancarlo Stanton. I like when they had good players back then. I don’t have a Marlins jersey.”
>> Funniest teammate: Kylen Kono.
“He makes me laugh all the time. I’ve known him since Little League. He played Aiea Little League with me, but he was at Waipahu until this year. He wasn’t really playing that much. He’s back at his hometown.”
>> Smartest teammate: Bostan Ujimori
“He has a high GPA and his presentations go good all the time.”
>> GPA: 3.7
>> Favorite teacher: Mrs. (Alena) Wong, fourth grade, Alvah Scott Elementary
“She was just nice and I like how she taught us. She always used to give us snacks.”
>> Favorite class: Physical education, freshman year
“I liked the second semester class better because we actually had class.”
>> Favorite scripture: Prov. 3:5-6
“To me, it means trust in the Lord because he has a plan for us. He will guide us.”
>> New life skill: Driving.
“I got my driver’s license. I pick up my sister now.”
>> Bucket list: “Zip line anywhere. Go to a World Series game. Visit Japan. Baseball up there is crazy. They’re super good.”
>> Time machine: “I would want to go back to a time and see the all-time greats play baseball. Chipper Jones. Andruw Jones. Those kinds of players.”
>> Youth sports: “My mom made me play soccer when I was 5 or 6. Then it was baseball after that. I was around 7. I played basketball after that. When I was fifth or sixth grade, I decided I wanted to just play baseball. Soccer was tiring, and I felt I was better in baseball than the other two sports. I think my dad wanted me to play baseball. My brothers (Dallen and Austen) played because my dad wanted them to play.”
>> Message to young Brennen: “Keep working. All the hard work will pay off.”
>> Shout-outs: “All my friends and family, coaches and teammates for everything. I wouldn’t be myself without them.”
