{"id":97,"date":"2026-05-15T06:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T06:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=97"},"modified":"2026-05-15T06:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T06:04:49","slug":"it-just-means-a-lot-mililani-baseball-reflects-on-journey-to-first-state-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=97","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It just means a lot\u2019: Mililani baseball reflects on journey to first state championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<section>\n<p>HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) &#8211; It\u2019s a moment the Mililani Trojans will never forget.<\/p>\n<p>The Trojans downed PAC-5 last weekend to claim their first baseball State Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=95\">First Alert Forecast: Tracking periods of heavy rain Friday into Saturday<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A scoreless game that came all the way down to the bottom of the 7th with Koa Marzo Jr stepping into the batters box and stepping up when it mattered most.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe quietest the stadium ever been for me right there that one moment ,\u201d Marzo told Hawaii News Now. \u201cThat one at bat, I didn\u2019t really hear anything, but I told myself, you know, if I\u2019m gonna hit the ball I gotta hit the ball hard and just put the ball in play.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>A routine base hit got past the wolfpack third baseman and scored Jake Nishimoto as the Trojans add their name to the history books.<\/p>\n<p>On the other side, it was an impressive night on the mound for junior pitcher Ezra Ugale.<\/p>\n<p>Striking out 4 in his first complete game of the year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe deeper I got into the game, you know, it just came a little easier, not as much nerves as the game went on,\u201d Ugale said. \u201cLike I knew I could trust my (defense) and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For head coach Mark Hirayama, this Championship is the culmination of years dedicated to the Brown and gold.<\/p>\n<p>He took the program over in 2009 and was a state runner up three times prior to finally breaking through in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=93\">Hawaii ocean safety officials look to robots to help save lives<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery year is just a little bit different because the guys, you know, they grow a little bit, their priorities change a little bit,\u201d Hirayama said. \u201cI think, they, they always work hard for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Helping the Trojans on this journey has been Mililani freshman Zander Young who\u2019s given the team a new perspective and has been one of their biggest supporters.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Zander is a member of the Mililani Firebirds, a team that the Trojans regularly volunteer with and Zander latched on to the team over the last few years.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s become a good luck charm supporting from the dugout.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s kind of adopted us,\u201d Hirayama said. \u201cHe\u2019s great with the boys and honestly I think he gives us more than we give to him, you know, just by him coming out and his enthusiasm about being around the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s one of us, he\u2019s part of the team, he\u2019s part of our family,\u201d Marzo added. \u201cWe\u2019re just thankful for him, always coming to support us.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Not only has the team been supported by Zander, but by the whole Mililani community who can now add baseball to their list of State Champions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got a lot of texts after the game from a lot of my cousins that went through this program and just a lot of family members,\u201d Ugale said. \u201cIt just means a lot to everybody, you know, to finally get the job done and bring it home for our family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=91\">UH women\u2019s sailing team heads to nationals as head coach retires<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s a moment the Mililani Trojans will never forget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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