On this date in 1982, the OIA East was all Glen Nakama of Kaiser had.
Nakama led the league in batting average, hits, home runs and RBIs. But that was only half of his contribution, as he was 10-0 with a league-leading 0.74 ERA in 48 1/3 innings.
Steven Takara of Pearl City was the only hitter on Oahu who got a hit in half of his at-bats and Danny Kapea of Waipahu and Aiea’s Alan Higuchi were battling to be the West’s top hurler.
David Masters of Iolani was the class of the ILH on the mound on his way to becoming a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Cubs.
Nobody on this list earned a state title that year, as Castle made it to the state final after beating ILH champion Iolani but lost to Maui in the final game.
Kaiser didn’t even make the state tournament, finishing the OIA East season 14-0 but forfeiting 12 games for using ineligible players. Nakama, 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds, was 11-0 with an ERA of 0.68 before the hammer fell on the program. He finished the season with a .459 batting average and led in home runs and RBIs.
Kalani turned Kaiser in and, as fate would have it, played the Cougars in the regular-season final with the OIA’s last playoff berth on the line. Nakama pitched a three-hitter and the Cougars won 12-1 to end the Falcons’ season. Nakama also drove in three runs.
“We wanted to take it out on them,” Kaiser catcher Ricky Santos said. “That’s bad but that’s how everybody felt.”
Nakama added: “We had to win. I wouldn’t come to school next week if I lost today.”
Who at Kalani turned in Kaiser? What was Kaiser doing?
Kalani told the OIA that two Kaiser players were supposed to be Falcons. Kaiser investigated and forfeited the 12 games that those boys played in.