Hawaiʻi will look to ride one of the best arms in the nation from 2025 in Isaiah Magdaleno (26) and welcome back senior Kamana Nahaku (25) after his best hitting season as a ‘Bow.
Alec Johnson / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi
“I can’t remember a fall where the intersquad games have been so lively.”
As UH baseball head coach Rich Hill spoke to a group of reporters ahead of a team scrimmage, you couldn’t help but realize the thrumming potency of the old saying, ‘there’s nothing like October baseball,’ even in a place like Hawaiʻi, where distinct seasons and professional sports teams aren’t exactly a reality.
Because as a new year brimming with hopes and expectations begins to take shape in these — slightly — colder months, the Basebows’ patented ‘Mānoa Magic’ reverberates in the way the team speaks about what is to come.
“Fall is always exciting because we get to learn a lot about the players that we brought in. At the same time, it’s a ramping up process, especially for the freshman…it goes from zero to a hundred really quick, but we’re figuring out the pieces,” Hill stated.
Entering his fifth season at the helm, Hill noted that what has stood out the most so far is the team’s energy.
“It’s been very spirited. I really love how guys are competing…the effort, the attitude and the enthusiasm has really been good.”
For junior right-handed relief pitcher Isaiah Magdaleno, who was named to both the All-Big West First Team and the Big West Championship All-Tournament Team this year, the anticipation of a new season with a new-look Hawaiʻi team is ever-present.
“We’re super excited. We got a lot of new guys, a lot of new faces to take over older roles,” Magdaleno said. “Everybody’s excited to get out on the field…Everybody’s looking pretty good, and just finding their way as a team.”
As the MLB World Series wrapped up with the Dodgers triumphing over the Blue Jays in a Game 7 instant-classic, the UH baseball team faced off in a World Series of their own to kick off their autumn action.
The ʻBows’ annual ʻOhana World Series is a chance for supporters to get an early look at the team ahead of the upcoming season. Coming off a solid 2025 campaign that saw the program secure its first back-to-back 35-win seasons since 1991-1992, narrowly missing the finals of the first Big West Conference Championship Tournament to be held since 1998, UH fans certainly have a lot to look forward to.
For one, the return of seniors Ben Zeigler-Namoa and Kamana Nahaku means a continued veteran presence and the return of key pieces for the Rainbow Warriors. Last season, Zeigler-Namoa led the team in slugging (.509), tied for the lead in hits (72), and was second in batting average (.333), home runs (7) and runs scored (41). The Lāhainā, Maui native’s 54 RBIs were the most in a season by a Hawaiʻi player since 2009.
Ben Ziegler-Namoa (4) celebrating with his teammates as he hits his first home run of the season, deep into the center field of the Les Murakami Stadium to tie up the ball game at one.
Tanner Haworth / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi
Hailing from Auburn, Washington with Kanaka ʻŌiwi heritage, outfielder Nahaku led the 2025 ‘Bows in home runs (10, tied for 10th in single-season program history) and tied with Zeigler-Namoa for 41 runs scored.
It was fitting, therefore, for the seasoned pair to take on captain duties for the ʻOhana World Series, with ‘BZN’ leading Team Green and ‘Mana’ Team White. Over the course of the three-game series, it would be Team Green who would take the weekend ‘W’ in sweeping fashion, 13-4, 3-0, and 2-1.
The excitement continued as just two days after Team Ben’s Sunday win, the team departed for a special and rare trip — across the Pacific Ocean.
The Rainbow Warriors got the opportunity to embark on a week-long Japan Tour, largely facilitated by Hawaiʻi Senator Glenn Wakai, who has championed an initiative with Hawaiʻi Athletics and the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority to develop Hawaiʻi-Japan relations, encouraging a UH-bound pathway for Japanese student-athletes and aiming to become “Japan’s Team,” Hill said.
UH has seen several players with Japan ties don the uniform, especially in recent years. Former ‘Bows Itsuki Takemoto, a two-way player who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 2025 MLB Draft, and second baseman Shunsuke Sakaino, who was born and grew up in Japan prior to moving to California, were central members of last season’s squad.
The trip saw the Rainbow Warriors compete against some of the best baseball universities in the nation, as well as engage with a baseball culture that has earned worldwide renown.
“I will require our team to get on the [dugout] rail and watch how [college teams] take infield-outfield. I mean, it is a choreographed work of art, it’s like a Broadway musical,” Hill marveled when interviewed by reporters ahead of Sunday’s ‘Ohana World Series matchup. “I love the passion that they bring, I love the discipline, the adherence to fundamentals, the desire for excellence. It’s really good for our players to see that style of baseball.”
“Baseball in Japan, it really doesn’t get much better than that,” Magdaleno echoed. “They just play the game a different way in Japan. They play it clean, and that’s what we’re aiming for.”
In addition to immersing themselves in the baseball side of things, Hill emphasized the valuable cultural and life experience the trip would provide for his players.
Along with a couple of practices and two exhibition games against Waseda and Keio universities, perennial powerhouses of Japanese collegiate baseball, the team got to visit the Imperial Palace, the Tokyo Dome (home of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yomiuri Giants), the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, and take in the sights, all while staying in downtown Tokyo.
For a group that now features a number of new faces, such an experience proves invaluable in building team chemistry.
“I feel like it’s a great opportunity for us to become closer as a team… Creating that bond early in the fall, going overseas, and really becoming closer as a whole,” Magdaleno remarked.
After the anticipated flight to Japan, ‘Bowsball had an impressive showing overseas, swiping an 8-0 no-hit victory over Waseda in their first match of the pair. As Magdaleno emphasized before the trek, they went in for a clean game, and the team managed to fly out saying they accomplished that goal, also winning over Keio 15-1 to close off their Japan Journey.
AloJapan.com