‘Pretty mind-blowing’: Napoleon-Umeda caps historic Honokaa run with MaxPreps honor

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Honokaa baseball player has earned one of the biggest individual honors in high school sports.

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Josyah Napoleon-Umeda was named 2026 MaxPreps Hawaii Player of the Year.

“I was honestly more focused on winning a state title, and MaxPreps wasn’t even in the picture,” he said.

The honor was arguably in his blood, given Napoleon-Umeda grew up around the game.

His parents, who were high school sweethearts, were part of the last Dragons squad to win a BIIF title in 2008. His dad, Joshua, was the starting catcher and his mom, U’i, was a team manager.

The celebration included a young Napoleon-Umeda — though he doesn’t remember it.

“I remember my dad telling me he won a BIIF, and he showed me pictures of me as a little kid in photos with them. And hearing that he never won states, I figured I gotta one-up him,” he said.

This year, Napoleon-Umeda was on a mission, helping lead an undefeated 17-0 season, a BIIF championship, and the program’s first-ever state title.

“It’s pretty mind-blowing to achieve something like this, especially coming from Honokaa, representing not just Honokaa but the whole island,” said Napoleon-Umeda.

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The two-way star led the state in batting average and home runs. He also posted a 0.42 ERA and 59 strikeouts on the mound.

With an arm like that, he’s also the team’s starting quarterback.

“I was more into football, but I knew I could go further in baseball, so I just dedicated myself to baseball,” said Napoleon-Umeda.

His father, Joshua Umeda, said he was hesitant about his son playing football.

“I didn’t want him to play football, to be honest. I know he’s good at it, the team needed him, but my main concern was I didn’t want anything to happen to him,” Umeda said. “With our luck, the very first game of the year, first drive, he gets hurt, and he’s down and he’s out and I’m like, ‘Oh no.’”

He was able to return quickly, thanks to the physicality he gained on the gridiron.

In fact, the Honokaa baseball team includes almost all football players. In the starting lineup, all but one also plays football.

“I was coaching football at that time, like, let’s get all these football boys together and let’s make a team. We told them, ‘You can run, you can catch, so let’s play,’” said Joshua Umeda.

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Their pure athleticism is what led to that historic baseball state title.

As for Napoleon-Umeda, he’s headed to Allan Hancock College in California.