HONOLULU — A man who experienced the highs and lows of a major league career could still be moved by those who dream of such an opportunity.
Benny Agbayani, who played five total years for the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox and appeared in the 2000 World Series, was asked to reflect on the twist in his career after his Saint Louis Crusaders got past Kailua High School and into the semifinals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I baseball championships earlier this week.
His eyes watered at the thought.
“Not really,” Agbayani told Spectrum News of whether he’d envisioned being there with his alma mater. “Just emotional, because being at Saint Louis, with these kids, sharing every moment with them.” He paused. “They just make me proud. I cannot ask for anything else.”
After the 6-4 comeback win from four runs down, the ILH runner-up Crusaders (16-7) earned a matchup with Maui High at 4 p.m. Friday at Les Murakami Stadium.Defending champion Kamehameha faces Baldwin in Friday’s second semifinal at 7 p.m.
[Note: See below for more photos of Saint Louis-Kailua.]
With the tournament pushed back a day due to inclement weather, the HHSAA arranged for Moanalua’s turf field as a solution Saturday with Les Murakami Stadium unavailable with high school graduation ceremonies. The non-televised Division I final is set to follow the 10 a.m. Division II championship between Damien and Kamehameha-Hawaii.
Agbayani, who attended Hawaii Pacific University and scrapped his way into the bigs, had a 13th-inning walk-off home run in the 2000 National League Division Series against San Francisco, then drove in the New York Mets’ winning run in the only game they claimed from the New York Yankees in the World Series.
He coached Iolani softball, winning the 2019 state championship and leaving two years ago when his daughter, Ailana, went off to play at BYU.
But he clearly feels another emotional connection with this group, which he assumed from a respected and longtime coach in George Gusman, who was dismissed in January. Gusman led the Crusaders to the 2014 state championship and a third-place finish in 2022.
With one more win, Saint Louis will be in its first state final since that 2014 title.
“I think just them believing in themselves, knowing what they’re capable of doing,” Agbayani said of being key in Wednesday’s comeback. “Just having Sean (Yamaguchi) and Tanner (Chun), these seniors lead this team. Like I told them from Day 1, they gotta be the leaders, and that’s how we’re going to win.”
Yamaguchi, the outspoken senior shortstop, went 2-for-3 and the center fielder Chun hit a double and drew two walks.
Saint Louis lost three in a row to Kamehameha to end the ILH season but did not lose faith once it went down big early.
“I think we’ve been playing that type of baseball all year long,” Yamaguchi said. “That’s the type of baseball we want to play. We want to make sure when we come out to the field down 10, up 10, we’re going to try our best and we’re going to come out with that victory.”
Aycen Fernandez did not give up a hit over the final 3 2/3 innings for the win.
The final half-inning included an incredible diving snare by Kahanu Martinez of a hot shot by Masao Minami. Martinez fired across the diamond for the second out. After Rayvin Pagan drew a walk, Kalama Carreira lined out to second.
“Trust. It took trust,” Fernandez said. “I just had to trust my defense, trust my pitch calling, that my catcher was going to do his job, everybody.”
That included Agbayani.
“Coach Benny, from the beginning of the season, he’s been there. Talking to me, supporting me. I love that guy,” Fernandez said.
Kailua led 4-0 after two innings but lost steam once ace Zayne Hookala exceeded the pitch limit of 80 and had to exit after 4 2/3 innings thrown.
The Surfriders’ lone senior, Kaimana Burgo, went 2-for-2 with two walks in the leadoff spot, but took the loss in giving up two runs in the final two innings of relief.
Carreira went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
“I love this group,” Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said. “They work hard. They believe. We’re going to get better. I gotta get better. I told them before we came out that this loss is on me. They just gotta keep believing and trusting.”
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.