Baseball fans tuning in to the Little League World Series — no matter where they’re from or who they’re rooting for — have to be pulling for Central East Maui’s Kolten Magno.
The 12-year-old second baseman has endured more than most kids his age after his family lost its home in the Lahaina wildfires one year ago that killed 102 people.
“He makes Lahaina proud,” said Kim Ann Magno, Kolten’s mother. “We gets lots of calls and texts and messages about how he’s representing Lahaina as well as Central Maui as well as Maui and Hawaii. We’re so proud of him.”
Magno batted 0-for-2 in Central East Maui’s 3-1 victory Wednesday over Salem, N.H. (New England). The Valley Isle team’s second tournament game will be today against Hinsdale, Ill. (Great Lakes).
“We’re hyped up. We just won our first game,” said Kolten, who added that he was nervous, yet excited during the opener.
Kim Ann wants the focus to be on Central East Maui’s success, but the media have jumped on this ultimate tragedy-to-triumph human interest story.
The interview requests for Magno family members and mentions of Kolten’s baseball journey during TV broadcasts of games have been numerous.
“They deserve all their credit and we are just here along for the ride,” she said.
Welcome aboard
The Magno family is grateful to the Pono Baseball Organization and Central East Maui Little League for allowing Kolten to play the game he loves.
With youth baseball in Lahaina an uncertainty after the fire, Kim Ann successfully petitioned both leagues to allow her son to play despite living out of district. She said five other Lahaina players also were allowed to join the leagues.
Kolten, a student at Lahaina Intermediate, has gotten the opportunity to get to know players he had previously competed against. He’s really bonded with his Central East Maui teammates during their run to Williamsport.
“They’ve treated me like family, like I’m brothers to them. I feel comfortable being with this team,” Kolten said.
Central East Maui coach Daniel Bolduc said: “His personalty, if you don’t welcome that kid, you’re crazy. He gets along with everybody.”
It actually took a while for Kolten to mingle with his teammates and coaches.
“This team (Central East Maui) brought him out of his shell because he’s so shy,” Kim Ann said. “We were kind of worried in the beginning because he hardly talks. If he feels uncomfortable, he’s going to kind of stay to himself. We were kind of pushing him to go talk story and go make friends, talk to the coaches, introduce yourself to your teammates. He didn’t want to, but the other boys, it was so easy for them to take him in and be there for him.”
Kolten’s father, Dalton, said baseball saved his son during difficult times.
“After the tragedy baseball became everything for him,” Dalton said. “If it wasn’t for baseball and this team and the people from Central Maui, I don’t know what he’d be without baseball.”
Generous donations
An anonymous benefactor has agreed to cover Kolten’s parents’ travel expenses for their trips to the West Regional in San Bernardino, Calif., and the World Series in Williamsport.
The benefactor was put in contact with the Magnos through Keith Amemiya, who is president of the Honolulu-based Downtown Athletic Club of Hawaii.
During last week’s regional, the New York Times published an article on Kolten’s baseball journey.
Amemiya said individuals from the mainland soon contacted him on how they could help the family.
He then decided to have all financial donations made through lunastrong.org during the Little League World Series go toward the construction of a new home for the Magno family.
The website is part of the DACH, which supports sports programs and initiatives in Hawaii. The organization has provided assistance for those in need after the Lahaina fires.
Kim Ann said her family is “forever grateful” to the benefactor and Amemiya for their financial support.
Surprise visitors
Kolten got a surprise visit prior to Wednesday’s game from twin sister, Charly, who was flown in courtesy of the anonymous benefactor. Kolten’s auntie (Kim Ann’s sister), uncle and two cousins also greeted Kolten on Wednesday after paying their own way to watch him play.
The newly arrived family members made their presence known to Kolten when he was on the field for the pregame ceremony.
“They surprised me. It was so cool,” Kolten said.
His mother added: “He was shocked. He looked up at us, and again he’s such a shy kid, he got embarrassed seeing everyone there screaming for him.”
Charly and the four others will fly back to Maui after today’s game.
The Magno family is fairly easy to spot at the World Series. They’re the ones with a banner that has “Lahaina Strong” on it with the Hawaii flag in the background. The family also displayed the banner, designed by Maui clothing store owner Shannon Kahale, at the West Regional.
Dalton, who is a Lahainaluna football assistant coach, will miss the Lunas’ game today against Kapolei. Kahi, Kolten’s older brother, will likely start the game at running back/defensive back.
Horrifying experience
The date was Aug. 8, 2023. The entire Magno family was at home. School was to start the next day. They had their windows closed because of the smoke from a fire in the area. They didn’t know the close proximity or the magnitude of the wind-aided blaze until it was nearly too late.
“We knew the fire was on the other side of Lahainaluna Road, but we didn’t realize it was coming right at us,” Kim Ann said.
She added her sister, who lives next door, screamed at everyone to leave because the fire was already burning the neighbor’s house across the street.
“We jumped in all of our cars and driving down the road embers were flying over our car. Fire was on both sides of the street,” Kim Ann said. “The twins were in the back seat and they were asking me if we were going to die.”
Kim Ann luckily was told not to go to work that day because the electricity was out.
“I probably would not have made it up the road to my house because the fire was coming down and everybody was running towards the ocean,” she said.
The ordeal was extremely difficult for Kolten, who has suffered from anxiety since the 2018 fires in Lahaina. A simple siren or the smell of smoke could trigger the anxiety, according to his mother.
The Magnos, in four vehicles, drove through the fire zone to a friend’s house.
Dalton and Kahi traveled up the mountain on ATVs and saw Lahaina burnt down.
Kim Ann had an uncle perish during the fire, and her brother also lost his home.
The aftermath
The night of the fire, the Magnos went to the Royal Lahaina Resort, where Dalton works in the engineering department. They lived there for 10 months.
“Royal Lahaina made it easy for us. They were so giving,” Kim Ann said. “We are so thankful for them being there for us. We had a room that could hold my family. My sister folks had another room. We had a kitchen and we just did life one day at a time.”
The Magnos then moved into the home of Kolten’s grandmother in Wahikuli, which is in Lahaina but was mostly spared from the fire. It needed to be cleaned, and the roof and fence needed repair, according to Kim Ann, whose sister’s family also moved in.
There are 15 people living in the home.
“We’d like to stay in Lahaina,” Kim Ann said regarding a future home. “We are going to rebuild. My brother is a contractor who will rebuild our house.”
A couple of months after the fire, the Magnos visited where their home once stood.
“We did go back. It was just ash. Everything was completely gone. There was nothing we could save,” Kim Ann said.
They only things of value they could recognize were damaged jewelry, including Dalton’s four Lahainaluna football state championship rings.
The items will no doubt be cherished by the Magnos, much like Kolten’s amazing journey to the Little League World Series.
