No state does Little League baseball like Hawaii does.
Forget the bat flips. It’s deep breathing, hugs and visualization for the 11- and 12-year-old boys from Honolulu playing under manager Gerald Oda. This year Oda has led the Honolulu team back to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, site of the Little League World Series (LLWS), for the fourth time in the last seven tournaments during Aloha dominance.
Hawaii is the only state to have won four LLWS titles in the last two decades.
A team from Ewa Beach won the first in 2005 and a team from Waipahu won the second in 2008. Oda, meanwhile, has led Honolulu’s juggernaut to the LLWS championship in 2018 and 2022.
“I hate it because he’s so nice,’’ Randy Huth, who was manager of the Tennessee team that in 2022 lost to Hawaii twice by a combined score of 18-1, said with a chuckle. “Before every game he walks over and shakes every single kid’s hand on the other team and tells them to have fun. I mean, no other coach does that.’’
Of Hawaii’s players, Huth added, “They’re the nicest kids ever.’’
But the mystique of Oda’s program is about to be tested, with his team scheduled to play its first game Friday, Aug. 15.
It’s an issue of talent.
Of the 14 players on Hawaii’s 2018 championship team, 13 went on to play college baseball, according to Oda. Hawaii’s 2022 championship team outscored its opponents 60-5 and belted 13 home runs while going 6-0.
This year, by contrast, the boys from Honolulu qualified for the LLWS despite hitting under .200 while winning the four-team West Region.
“Nowhere near as powerful as those teams from 2018 and 2022,’’ Oda said. “We’re winning games in different ways.’’
Hawaii practices breathing? Yes
The LLWS titles in 2005 and 2008 proved Hawaii had ample talent. But in Honolulu, Oda has built a program with a unique approach.
“The first couple of years, it was about X’s and O’s,’’ Oda said, then explaining how he and his brother Keith, one of the team’s assistant coaches, began studying the mental game in attempt to understand why certain players thrived under pressure and others didn’t.
A new approach, designed to develop mental toughness, took shape.
“Before every practice, we practice breathing,’’ Oda said. “We practice affirmations. ‘I know I can do this. I’m all-powerful.’ Just simple things like that.
“In the beginning, the kids don’t take it seriously. But the more they do it, the more they get relaxed, the more they get into it. Taking a deep breath, controlling their breathing. And if you ever watched our kids play, you know we teach them this ritual.’’
The ritual takes place at home plate. In a personalized way, players signal to the dugout that they’re ready.
“To show us in they’re resetting (mentally),’’ Oda said. “Focus on being in the moment. Have fun, enjoy the moment.’’
Hawaii embraces the hugs
The motto of Hawaii’s team is “we is greater than me.’’ Or, as is emblazoned on the backs of their jerseys before the LLWS, “We > Me.’’ (LLWS rules mandate that only a player’s jersey number can be on the back of the jersey.)
That started in 2018, when a collection of All-Stars from Honolulu became Oda’s first team to reach Williamsport – and win the LLWS title.
“Even though we won the state tournament (previously), there was something missing,’’ Oda said. “You have all these studs, all these alpha males because they were the man on their team.
“Since then, we’ve never put their names on the back of their uniforms. Because we want them to understand we is greater than me.’’
In part to reinforce togetherness, after each practice Hawaii’s players must hug each other and say “I love you.’’
“In the beginning, of course, kids think it’s silly,’’ Oda said. “You know, it’s funny. But what happens, though, is that when you start getting in these tough tournaments or these tough games, they start doing it naturally.
“We noticed when you use anger and hatred as a way to pump up a team, you shoot like a rocket but you can’t sustain it too long. Whereas when it’s based upon the love, you can do it for the whole entire game.’’
Digging in
Joe Janicke is the manager of the team from Fullerton, California that finished runner-up to Hawaii in the West Region. He said Hawaii benefited from good pitching and fantastic defense but also noted its players crowded the plate.
So while Hawaii managed only nine hits in three games, its players reached base eight times after getting hit by a pitch.
“I don’t want to sound like that’s their thing, getting hit,’’ Janicke said. “But it’s no secret.’’
Oda said it results from the buy-in he gets from his players, who did not budge while following Oda’s instruction: “Own the batter’s box.’’
“Kids are afraid,’’ Oda said. “I mean, they’re 12 years old, you know? They’re going to be scared when they see that (pitcher) throwing that hard.
“But again, it goes all to that whole mental toughness thing, that whole being in the moment thing. What are you willing to do for your teammates?
“It’s not teaching the kids to lean into a pitch. But you got to dig in.’’
Oda said he and his staff continue to dig in, too.
“We’re constantly reading things, trying to learn new ideas,’’ he said. “We’re smart enough to know we don’t know everything.’’