This column is about state baseball. No, not that controversial fiasco from last week.
This one is about a milestone victory authored by a future legendary pitching combo.
I’m talking about Aiea’s first state baseball title in 1973 and specifically about Gerald Ako and Derek Tatsuno.
I would argue that Ako and Tatsuno are the best 1-2 punch ever produced for a Hawaii high school and University of Hawaii.
Their list of accomplishments is long and distinguished.
But for the purpose of this article — I’ll have another on their UH careers — I’ll focus their high school days.
Ako, a right-hander, was a three-time OIA West MVP from 1971 to 1973 and Tatsuno, a lefty, followed as OIA West MVP from 1974 to 1976.
“Gerald being three years older than me, I used to watch him pitch,” Tatsuno said in a telephone interview. “Kind of admired him, being how good he was at that time and how he used to dominate. And, of course, his demeanor and his attitude toward the game. So I kind of picked up on that.”
“He’s changing history,” Ako quipped when told about Tatsuno’s praise. “Nobody taught Tatsuno too many things. He could just do it.”
When they took the mound, though, they were no joke. They made history by helping Aiea win its first state baseball title, but it was in the state tournament and especially that championship game against Punahou where Ako and Tatsuno etched their names in high school lore.
Tatsuno beat Molokai 17-0 in the opener, pitching five shutout innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.
Senior Hugh Kishi pitched the final two with four strikeouts.
Ako beat ‘Iolani in the semifinals 4-1, pitching a nine-inning, complete game, striking out nine and allowing only an unearned run.
That brings us to the big game, May 12, 1973, at Honolulu Stadium before a turnstile count of 3,033.
“There was big discussion when we got into that championship game against Punahou about who was going to pitch because Derek was our No. 3 pitcher at that time,” Ako said. “Final decision was no, we going to go with our No. 2 guy, Mark Nagamine.”
Nagamine (5-0 regular season) started for Aiea but got in trouble by walking the bases loaded with one out. Coach George Anzai decided to make a change.
“I was fooling around in the bullpen at that time, thinking I was freshman there’s no way I would be going in the game,” Tatsuno recalled.
“And we had a senior right-hander (Hugh Kishi). Thinking he was a senior, he would go in the game first. So our coach came out in the first inning, went out to the mound, and called for somebody in the bullpen. Not paying attention, thinking Hugh was a senior, I said, ‘Hugh, Coach calling you.’
“He was walking to go into the game. He turned around, he goes, ‘No, Coach is calling you.’ I said, ‘What? Yeah, Coach is calling you’ So I run out to the mound. As I was taking the warmup pitches I looked at who the batter (was) I was due to face. And it was Mosi Tatupu. I was thinking, holy crap, my knees were shaking and everything.”
“So bases loaded one out, I struck out Tatupu and the next batter came up, I go, oh my goodness, Neal Ane. I was fortunate to strike him out, too.”
Recalled Ako: “That’s when the world went, who the (heck — my word, not Ako’s) is this guy? Here he is like 5-7 and 115 pounds or whatever at that time (Tats said he was 5-8, 135 then), and he just shocks the world. For me that’s when everybody began to know who this guy was. Just phenomenal. He always was.” From when he started when he was a little kid.”
“So we got out of the first inning with no runs. But throughout the entire game, every time I was in the stretch, oh my goodness, my knees were shaking so much I hope they don’t call a balk,” Tatsuno said.
The precocious Tatsuno did just fine, pitching 61⁄3 innings while allowing two hits, an unearned run, striking out seven and walking three.
Then in the seventh, Tatsuno said “for whatever reason, I walked the bases loaded and Gerald came in.”
Ako closed it out, hurling the last 21⁄3 innings without giving up a hit while striking out one and walking two.
“All I remember is beating Punahou was a big deal, just playing Punahou was a big deal,” Ako said. “Punahou had a great team and nobody expected us to win. You play one game, who knows. On that day we won. They had great players, great coaching staff, great tradition. We were just little country boys. In ’73, Aiea was still country.”
Ako felt a little trepidation pitching in the semifinal, knowing Aiea had never made it to a state final, and then in the final, closing out Aiea’s first title?
“Back in 1973, it was pretty much public school vs. the private school,” Ako said. “I don’t know if you scared play them or what … kinda intimidating playing a private school at the time. For us, it was big deal not because it was so much the state tournament, but because it was the state tournament and it was against the ‘Iolanis and Punahous. You talk about an uphill climb. Maybe it was small thinking at the time, but it was a big deal for us. All the names that you read in the paper, now we’re playing against these guys.”
Tatupu was Punahou’s catcher and he would go on to play 14 seasons in the NFL and had a college football special teams award named after him. Ane became the ILH batting champion the next season. Furthermore, Aiea had to beat Glenn Goya, who pitched a perfect game in the championship the year before.
“Mosi, he was a household name. Literally a man playing with boys,” Ako said.
While Ako would take his talent to Manoa after 1973, Tatsuno would enjoy more success at Aiea. In all his four years, Aiea went to the state final.
Tatsuno didn’t play in the state tournament his sophomore year because just before the playoffs he fractured his ankle while he was “messing around before practice.” Saint Louis would beat Aiea 4-2 for the title.
Tatsuno told his teammates when they got to Maui (site of the state tournament) he would bring his uniform and would take off his cast, which he did.
When coach Anzai saw Tatsuno on Maui without his cast “his jaw hit the floor.” Anzai then protected Tatsuno from himself, not playing him.
As a junior, Tatsuno won his semifinal game and pitched in relief in the final when the team was already behind in what would become a 3-0 loss to ‘Iolani.
In his senior year, Tatsuno again won the semifinal, but he also pitched in relief in the final with the team ahead and got credited with the win. He hurled the final 41⁄3 innings, striking out seven, in a 4-2 win over McKinley before 4,572 at Aloha Stadium.
Tatsuno and Ako would enjoy more pitching excellence together on the next level, which will be discussed in my next column.
These legends of the game are more gregarious now, especially Ako, who was always more reserved and quiet than Tatsuno.
“Now that I’m retired, my lips are kinda loose,” joked Ako, who will turn 69 next month.
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