‘Iolani’s Everett Lau plays third base. Last year, he played left field and occasionally pitched.
He’s also a bowler for the Raiders and he is a two-time West region national champion inline hockey player out of the Kapolei Inline Hockey Arenas, the state of the art two-rink facility that was built in 2010.
On Wednesday, Lau added the word “power hitter” to his resume. Lau blasted two home runs out of the park at the ‘Iolani field in an 9-6 loss to Mid-Pacific. He tied the game 4-4 in the third with a solo blast to left-center and then, in the fifth, knotted the score again at 6-6 with a smash to the right field corner.
About the home runs, he said, “I don’t know. I just made contact and the ball flew over the fence.”
He prefers the action of the infield, but will go where he’s needed.
“Wherever they put me, I’ll play,” he said. “Last year, it was outfield and pitch. This year I’m at third base and then hockey and bowling they just come along for the ride. I definitely would pick third base over left field. Lots of action. Keeps me in the game and whatnot. Left field I kind of daze out.
“Bowling is just something completely different. Indoors and AC, and it’s completely opposite from baseball. It’s kind of you’re on your own. You gotta roll and don’t throw it in the gutter, that’s pretty much what it is. At the same time, it’s a team sport and I enjoy it.”
Lau got into bowling through his brother, Emerson Lau, who bowled for Maryknoll and is now a member of the UNLV inline hockey club team along with fellow Oahu native Logan Sussman.
“Throughout his high school career, my brother kept egging me on to bowl and eventually I bowled. Sophomore and junior year, I was able to go to states, but I didn’t place or anything.”
Both Emerson and Everett started with the Oahu Inline Hockey League at the rink at Kamiloiki Park in Hawaii Kai before the Kapolei rink was built.
Everett was part of the Kapolei organization’s title-winning inline hockey teams at the San Jose Winternationals in January 2015 and the Summernationals in 2014.
“Hockey is just fast-paced, a little bit physical,” he said. “It’s different from baseball in the sense that you can’t really push your opponent into the boards. Hockey is similar to baseball in a way, too; it’s the same mind-set. It’s a team sport and there’s more adrenaline.”
Lau says he will likely attend Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Wash., to play baseball
“I was at the Arizona Classic with coach Duane Eldredge and that is the time I reached out to the (Saint Martin’s) coach and stuff and he was able to see me play. From there, things worked out, so I’ll probably head out there next year. I’m pretty sure. It’s not completed yet. That’s where I’m leaning.”
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