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Hawaii Fall Showcase: Quick Hits

November 8, 2024
Dan Cox
Scouting Director, Hawaii

This was the first year for Prep Baseball Hawaii partnering with Casey Onaga (Tampa Bay Rays Hawaii scout) and Gavin Concepcion (Chicago Cubs Hawaii scout), adding value to already the No. 1 Hawaii High School baseball event of the year. Our staff would like to send a big mahalo to both Casey and Gavin for allowing Prep Baseball Hawaii to be part of such a prestigious event.

Once again there were four participating teams: Oahu 1, Oahu 2, Big Island and Maui/Kauai/Molokai/Lanai. Totalling at 80+ Invite-Only players.

Watching closely were 24 Major League Baseball scouts from 21 Major League Baseball clubs and five college coaches.

We began the event at Central Oahu Regional Park on Friday, Oct 25 with on/off field testings: VALD 60-Yard, defense, Trackman and Blast BP, Vizual Edge, verified height/weight, grip strength and Jump Mat. Prep Baseball Hawaii quickly rolled out BP video with data via social media platforms X and instagram spotlighting many players.

Saturday’s weather forced us to move everything to Sunday. Another big mahalo goes out to Pearl City High School, Head Coach Duane Eldredge and Athletic Director Redi Shigemasa, for allowing us to have our event at their beautiful turf field, on short notice to say the least.

Position players got their at-bats in, pitchers got their innings in, Major League Scouts and college coaches saw what they needed to see. Great job by all making the 2024 Hawaii Fall Showcase a success.

Following the event, our staff broke down all of the top statistical performances within our Statistical Analysis, Pitching Data Dive and Positional Dive articles. Below, we will conclude our post-event coverage with a rundown of Prep Baseball Hawaii’s top-five ranked 2025 players along with 2025-2027 players who impressed:

To view complete event data, click here.

2025 CLASS STANDOUTS

Bruin Agbayani SS / 2B / Saint Louis, HI / 2025

Rankings  StateRank: 1 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 83 / POS: 30

All eyes were on Agbayani, Prep Baseball Hawaii’s #1 ranked 2025 and the #1 follow for many MLB scouts going into 2025. Agbayani showed off his best arm to-date with 94 mph INF velo, a 3 mph increase from his last Prep Baseball Hawaii event in January. Swung it well as usual taking a strong BP and drove a few balls in Sunday’s game. The recent Michigan commit will be seen early and often in 2025 by MLB scouts and could be the first player selected out of Hawaii in the 2025 MLB Draft.

Logan Honma SS / 3B / Pearl City, HI / 2025

Rankings  StateRank: 2 / POS: 2 OverallRank: 172 / POS: 45

First time ever trying behind plate, Prep Baseball Hawaii’s #2 ranked 2025 posted the third-best pop-time (1.88s) and second best catcher velo (79mph), looking like catching was his natural position. Left-handed hitting catchers are a commodity and Honma’s value shot way up in the eyes of MLB scouts as a potential July MLB Draft. Trimmed down and got stronger, body looks great. The University of Southern California commit may have a tough decision to make next July.

Elai Iwanaga RHP / OF / Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus, HI / 2025

Rankings  StateRank: 3 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 493 / POS: 151

Hawaii’s King of Spin successfully defended that title and once again was #1 in Trackman Spin Rate Max (3041) ripping off some tight/late SL’s that induced bad hacks/chases. Iwanaga also was #1 in TrackMan velo (91.3mph) and showed feel for CHG. Prep Baseball Hawaii’s #3 ranked 2025 and UCLA commit is a priority for MLB scouts to see next spring.

Leahiaukai Araujo-Waiau 3B / C / Mililani, HI / 2025

Rankings  StateRank: 4 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 485 / POS: 32

Araujo-Waiau consistently scores amongst the top in power bat categories: Trackman Max Distance (#6), Blast Hand Speed (#7) and Blast Bat Speed (#8). Arm strength is arguably Araujo-Waiau’s best tool with 89 INF velo and 78 catcher velo. Value goes way up in the eyes of MLB scouts if Araujo-Waiau can catch, posting an impressive 1.92 pop-time with little experience behind plate. Prep Baseball Hawaii’s #4 ranked 2025 and University of Hawaii commit likely won’t catch for Mililani this spring and MLB scouts likely invite him to pre-draft workouts where they can work him out behind-the-plate.

Mana Lau Kong 3B / OF / 'Iolani, HI / 2025

Rankings  StateRank: 5 / POS: 2 OverallRank: 487 / POS: 33

Towering over most is one of the first players you notice, 6-foot-7, 220-pound Mana Lau Kong. Staying with the term towering, Lau Kong hit some towering HR’s nearly 400 ft in wood BP with some serious hang-time on a damp night. Lau Kong scored at or near the top in many categories: Blast Hand Speed (#1), Blast Bat Speed (#7), Trackman EV (#6), Trackman Max Distance (#3) and Trackman Rotation Acceleration (#3). Prep Baseball Hawaii’s #5 ranked 2025 and University of Hawaii commit profiles as a middle-of-the-order power-hitting 3B/OF run producer next level – which could be DI or MLB.

2026-2028 CLASS STANDOUTS

Judah Ota OF / 3B / 'Iolani, HI / 2026

Rankings  StateRank: 3 / POS: 1

The 6-foot-5, 205-pound LHH OF Arkansas commit put on a Big League BP show for the ages, ball exploded off his bat with premium loft and easy all-fields power. Posted a 6.88s 60-yard and 87mph OF velo. Prep Baseball Hawaii’s #3 ranked 2026 made a name for himself this summer/fall making Underclass Area Codes and already on MLB scout radar for July 2026.

Ka’alekahi Kuhaulua OF / LHP / Kailua, HI / 2027

Rankings  StateRank: 1 / POS: 1 OverallRank: 186 / POS: 44

Kuhaulua makes the game look easy, on both sides of the ball. Prep Baseball Hawaii’s #1 ranked 2027 and University of Hawaii commit is a premium two-way DI recruit who is already one of the top two-way players in all Hawaii. At 6-foot-1, 165-pounds Kuhaulua is far from physically mature, has been to 87mph on bump with advanced pitchability and also projects as a hit/hit-for-power LHH CF/RF. ‘Ale comes from a long line of Kuhaulua’s who were drafted, went on to play professionally and the jury is out which way he’ll end up better – I got my money on the bat.

Chase Thompson OF / 1B / 'Iolani, HI / 2027

Rankings  StateRank: 2 / POS: 2 OverallRank: 168 / POS: 40

Prep Baseball Hawaii’s #2 ranked 2027 added muscle and already surpassed most 2025’s physically. The 15-year-old University of Hawaii commit had arguably the best two rounds of BP hitting ‘um as far as 18-year-olds. Makeup is off-the-scale and the 2027 premium bat LHH RF/1B is on track to develop into one of the high school best bats to come out of Hawaii in years.

Kai Watanabe C / OF / Henry Perrine Baldwin, HI / 2028

Rankings  StateRank: 1 / POS: 1

Just turned 15 and already the best defensive catcher in the state. Led all catchers in pop-time (1.84s) and catcher velo (80mph), and the crazy thing is he could end up better offensively as the bat (LHH) could end up special. Sky is the limit for Watanabe and whispers are already being heard of Watanabe developing into the next great catcher out of Maui, since Kurt Suzuki.

ADDITIONAL NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

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