KAPAA — A Warrior wahine will soon head for Washington state to take her game to the college ranks.
Kapaa High School graduate Tia Takasaki will attend Walla Walla Community College, where she’ll be a two-sport athlete and compete in softball and women’s volleyball.
Takasaki received multiple partial scholarships from the school and signed her letter of intent about two months ago.
“It was nerve-wracking because it finally hit me that I was going to college to play ball,” Takasaki said Saturday. “I was really excited because I get to go to college and play two sports that I love. Not really everybody gets to play two sports, you know. So, it’s an exciting feeling.”
She added: “It’s going to be really tough with the academics and athletics (but it’s possible) if you set your mind to it.”
Takasaki was a four-year varsity softball player. Her primary positions were shortstop and pitcher.
With Kapaa High, she won back-to-back Kauai Interscholastic Federation varsity softball championships the last two seasons and was named KIF softball Player of the Year this year.
“Winning KIF, that was a big goal of ours,” Takasaki said. “Like we said before, it was a rough start for us in the beginning of the season. We worked hard in the season and came up with the win at the end. Winning KIF, it was really exciting because of how hard we worked and how far we’ve come.”
Kapaa High School varsity softball head coach Francis Takasaki, who’s Takasaki’s father, said her batting average this past season was 0.470 and that throughout her career her average has been in the .400s to .500s.
“She’s very consistent. I think what attributes to her success and consistency is her work ethic,” Francis Takasaki said. “A lot of people don’t see the untold side of training — what she puts outside of practice, the hitting training. She’s very diligent on that. … You can’t come into fall camp and be out of shape. I think it falls right into her wheelhouse, as far as being that kind of motivated person.”
He added: “When she got up there, you can see the level of talent. Everybody is a state player of the year over there. … The recruiting is big business for them, so everybody is good. I think it’s just great she gets the opportunity to represent Kauai and Hawaii up there. Hopefully, she makes her mark and sets a path for the rest of our kids coming from Kauai.”
The Warriors coach said, though, he’s hesitant about his daughter playing two sports in college because of how rigorous that will be, but she’s determined to succeed in both.
“It doesn’t happen often. It’s kind of rare at the college level to play two sports,” he said. “It’s so demanding. I was against it because while she’s in volleyball season playing games, softball is doing fall ball scrimmaging D1 schools. She’s going to miss out on that. But on the flip side, I think this was on her bucket list. It was something she wanted to accomplish — to be able to play two sports and be a dual-athlete in college.”
Takasaki was also a four-year varsity player in girls volleyball. She was named a KIF girls volleyball all-star as a libero after the 2017 season.
During her freshman year, she won a KIF varsity girls volleyball championship at Kauai High School.
Kapaa varsity girls volleyball head coach Evan Costa said Takasaki as a “good sense of the game” as describes the libero as the quarterback of the back row.
“She’s there at every practice. She’s at every training. She’s at every game. She wants to be there,” Costa said. “Wherever she goes, she’s going to be solid. That’s how I’d put it — she’s going to be solid. She can handle it at the next level. She’s going to be fine. I know she’s going to play. I know she’s not going up there to be watching. She’ll definitely have a spot because she works for it. She works for what she gets.”
Takasaki visited the campus in Walla Walla sometime in the fall. She will make the move to Washington state in late July.
“It was beautiful. We actually left a day before it started snowing, but it was so cold,” she said of her visit. “I actually did a practice there with them, and I played. I played a (scrimmage softball game). … It was good. It opened my eyes to what I’m going to be looking at next year.”
Takasaki wanted to thank everyone who supported her along the way.
“Dad and Mom, I’ll make you guys proud,” she said.
