They came from different places and different Hawaii baseball eras.
Nate Jackson, a standout for the Rainbow Warriors’ football and baseball teams, has overcome several medical problems through the years. He attended Saturday’s festivities, including the blessing of the new turf at Les Murakami Stadium, but opted to cheer from the dugout instead of play in the exhibition between the alumni and the Rainbow Warriors.
Gene Smith, who was the ’Bows’ closer in the late 1970s, and younger brother David Smith also came back for the annual reunion. The Smith brothers are believed to have been the first siblings to play on the same UH baseball team — they were teammates in 1979.
“It was awesome having him on the team,” said Gene Smith, who closed for Derek Tatsuno and Gerald Ako.
David Smith threw two no-hitters and a one-hitter. The second no-hitter “wasn’t any different because everybody was talking about it in the dugout,” Smith said of teammates breaking the age-old rule of not discussing an ongoing no-hitter. “It was no different than any other game in terms of how it felt.”
Naighel Ali‘i Calderon, who completed his UH career last May, is now enjoying his transition to baseball fan.
“In life, you have to turn the page sometime,” said Calderon, who stole two bases on Saturday. “It was good to see the younger guys stepping up their game. It’s about them now. These guys are great. I’m excited for them. I’m going to be at as many games as I can be. This is a family. It’s awesome to be back.”
The ’Bows edged the alumni 4-2 in a game extended by mutual agreement from seven innings to nine. Right-handed freshman Cooper Walls escaped a first-inning jam after walking three. He relied on a two-seam fastball and slider in not allowing a hit in three scoreless innings.
“It was my first college experience,” Walls said. “It was really cool — the environment, the fans, and the new turf. The mound’s great.”
Itsuki Takemoto, who is scheduled to be in the ’Bows’ starting rotation, drove home Elijah Ickes from second with a single in the second inning. Takemoto eventually scored on first baseman Aidan Kuni’s sacrifice fly.
“I’m just having fun,” said Takemoto, who also will be used as the designated hitter this season. “Just keep playing baseball. That’s it. Keep attacking, keep swinging.”
Shortstop Jordan Donahue, who opted to return for his senior season, scored what proved to be the decisive run on Matthew Miura’s RBI groundout in the seventh inning. Donahue also praised the new $2 million turf, which offers a truer bounce than the previous surface.
There were some light moments during the game. Breland Almadova made a between-the-legs catch of a flyball to left. Almadova used to play for the Party Animals, an exhibition barnstorming team based in Georgia.
“Our motto was: Try and try and it’s OK to fail,” Almadova said of the Party Animals’ crowd-pleasing style. “We put on a show and try to put on as many trick plays as we can. … Now that I’m older and not playing for the seriousness of it, it’s all I want to do is have fun. That’s what keeps making me play — doing funky stuff and just hanging with the boys.”
Retired outfielder Scotty Scott told a TV reporter he would get emotional if he heard “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” played during the exhibition. As he walked to the batter’s box to lead off, the Braddah Iz song played.
“I give props to whoever’s idea it was,” said Scott, who was more excited about playing. “I didn’t expect to hit today. They told me I was leading off. I was kind of all over the place.”
Scott pulled a drive that right fielder Jared Quandt caught. “My old roommate had to run it down,” Scott said, smiling. “But that’s what he’s supposed to do, I guess.”
Later, former UH pitcher Sam Spangler, now a KHON anchor and reporter, was summoned in relief. Sportscaster Scott Robbs then took over the stadium microphone to offer a humorous introduction of Spangler. Robbs made the comments from the press booth named after his father Don Robbs, who died two weeks ago.
“I was trying not to laugh out there, especially knowing Scott was doing it,” Spangler said. “You look up and you see the ‘Leahey-Robbs’ press box, that was kind of chicken skin.”
