Na Koa Ikaika Maui
Na Koa Ikaika Maui (Hawaiian for The Maui Strong Warriors) were an independent professional baseball team based out of Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii and champions of the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs. They made their debut in the 2010 season with the Golden Baseball League in an away game, visiting the Victoria Seals on May 21, 2010, and played their home games at Maehara Stadium in Wailuku on the island of Maui.[1][2][3]
| Na Koa Ikaika Maui | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Information | |||||
| League | Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs (2013) | ||||
| Location | Wailuku, Hawaii | ||||
| Ballpark | Maehara Stadium (capacity 1,500) | ||||
| Year founded | 2010 | ||||
| Year disbanded | 2013 | ||||
| League championships | 1 (PAPB 2013) | ||||
| Division championships | 1 (GBL: South Division - 2010) | ||||
| Former league(s) |
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| Colors | Black, green, yellow, red | ||||
| Ownership | Hawaii Baseball, LLC | ||||
| Manager | Jeff Brooks | ||||
| General Manager | David Andrus | ||||
| Media | The Maui News | ||||
| Website | mauiprobaseball | ||||
On December 23, 2009, Michael Cummings, the CEO of XnE, Inc., which founded the team, announced the hiring of former St. George RoadRunners skipper Cory Snyder as the first manager and the signing of 30-year-old GBL veteran Mark Okano. The team also signed 2009 Golden Baseball League All-Star Fehlandt Lentini. The team's colors were black, green, yellow and red in keeping with the spirit of the islands.[4]
In late August 2010, Na Koa Ikaika Maui was acquired by a new ownership group, Hawaii Baseball LLC, based out of Los Angeles that foreclosed as XnE defaulted on a loan that pledged the assets of the team as collateral. On December 16, 2010, Maui hired Garry Templeton as their new manager months after he led the Chico Outlaws to their second GBL title.
In 2012, Hawaii Baseball LLC, owners of Na Koa Ikaika, hired Jamie Vermilyea as their new manager for 2012 and also started a second franchise, the Hawaii Stars, to join the league. The team joined the North American League in 2011, but that league folded in 2012 and they became charter members of the four-team Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs.
In 2013, Jeff Brooks was hired as their manager. Maui started their season by hosting two three games series against the Ishikawa Million Stars and Shinano Grandserows who are members of the Japanese independent Baseball Challenge League. In late July, Na Koa Ikaika traveled to Japan to play six games, one each against Fukui Miracle Elephants, Toyama Thunderbirds, Ishikawa Million Stars, Shinano Grandserows, Gunma Diamond Pegasus and Niigata Albirex Baseball Club. On August 25, Maui defeated the Vallejo Admirals 8-3 to advance to the championship game vs. the San Rafael Pacifics who they defeated 6–1 that same day.
The team shut down operations after playing the 2013 Pacific Association season due to the travel costs of bringing in the teams from Northern California.[5]
Season-by-season results
| Season | W | L | Finish | Playoffs/Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 55 | 26 | 1st of 5 | Lost to championship series vs Chico Outlaws |
| 2011 | 29 | 40 | 5th of 5 | |
| 2012 | 36 | 30 | 2nd of 4 | |
| 2013 | 47 | 28 | 2nd of 5 | Won championship game vs San Rafael Pacifics |
Notable alumni
- Cory Snyder (2010)
- Jerry Spradlin (2010)
- Jamie Vermilyea (2010,2012)
- Eri Yoshida (2011-2013)
- Danny Sandoval (2012)
- Chris Waters (baseball) (2013)
References
- Golden Baseball League plans to have Maui team in 2010, Robert Collias, The Maui News, September 30, 2009
- Golden Baseball League Expands to Hawaii, GBL website, September 30, 2009
- GBL expanding to Maui, The Yuma Sun, September 30, 2009
- "Team Uniforms" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-05. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
- Hawaii Stars baseball team suspended