2025 High School Preview: Punahou Buffanblu
January 16, 2025
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The 2025 Hawaii High School baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Hawaii.
Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in their respective State Championship Tournament, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview these individual programs across Hawaii. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews, eventually releasing our Preseason Power Rankings.
Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across Hawaii. Each week we will be releasing our Power 25, Players of the Week, Diamond Notes, and much more.
Our 2025 preseason coverage begins today with a preview of the Punahou Buffanblu.
2025 TEAM OUTLOOK
High School: Punahou School
Head Coach: Keenan Sue
HHSAA Classification: Division I
Conference: Interscholastic League
2024 Record: 7-10
+ No. Returning Positional Starters: 4
+ No. Returning Pitchers: 4
Punahou enters 2025 returning a large crop of their impact players which has them in contention to make some noise in the talented Divison I Interscholastic League. A strong group of upperclassmen will look to help the Buffanblu improve on their 7-10 record from the 2024 season when they first take the field next month. Below, we'll break down everything you need know about Punahou's program heading into the 2025 season led by head coach Keenan Sue.
TOP RETURNING PLAYERS
Punahou already has four senior players off the board who will be clubhouse leaders with '25 SS Jake Hiromoto (San Francisco), '25 C/1B Zak Komeiji (Saint Martin's), '25 RHP Aidan Okano (Whitman College) and '25 OF Owen Rappe (Puget Sound). The four players will provide veteran leadership and all possess tools that have allowed them to move on to the next level and will all be heavily relied upon in 2025. Beyond these four committed seniors, Punahou returns plenty more upperclass talent who are still uncommitted.
'25 RHP Nathan Overbeek (Uncommitted), '25 INF Raidan Shibayama (Uncommitted), '25 RHP/C Micah Shintaku (Uncommitted) and '25 RHP Cade Watson (Uncommitted) are another four seniors who will have a big impact on just how much this Punahou roster is able to accomplish throughout the spring. The Buffanblu's talented upperclass also includes several juniors who are eager to begin contributing on a more regular basis.
'26 SS Kahaku Harrison (Uncommitted), '26 C/UTL Tanner Iwashita (Uncommitted), '26 RHP Cooper Konishi (Uncommitted) and '26 LHP/OF Jake Tripp (Uncommitted) are four juniors within the program who are looking for increased roles when the team takes the field. The group will have two more seasons to make their mark on the Punahou program.
TOP UNCOMMITTED UPPERCLASS PLAYERS
'25 RHP Cade Watson is one of the top uncommitted prospects in the State of Hawaii, as well as one of the top uncommitted prospects within Punahou's program. Watson will eat some important innings this spring and has impressed this summer/fall at several big-time events including the Senior Future Games (Georgia) in late July, the West Coast Games (California) in early October and finally the Hawaii Fall Showcase in late October.
'25 RHP Nathan Overbeek, '25 RHP/C Micah Shintaku and '25 INF Raidan Shibayama are three additional names college coaches need to keep an eye on early this spring as they all provide tools or skills that will translate to the college level.
Overall, there's plenty to like here with the Punahou program as they prepare for the 2025 season as they boast a strong upperclass which is always an early indicator of how a team may perform. There's depth all over the field for the Buffanblu and they will be a fun team to watch in a strong Division I Interscholastic League.
Upcoming Events
Showcase | State | Date | Location |
Oahu Preseason ID | HI | 01/18 | Central Oahu Regional Park (CORP) |
Prep Baseball Hawaii Preseason Invitational | HI | 01/18 | Multiple Venues |
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