MAUI (Island News) — With hundreds of NCAA baseball teams in the hunt for a national championship when the season began, only eight remain.
Far more rare than qualifying, is having two siblings on the same title contending team.
Brothers Wehiwa and Kuhio Aloy both played prep baseball for Baldwin on Maui. They’re now on Arkansas, a team that’s advanced to the Elite Eight.
The Aloy’s father Jamie, a former player for UH and the S.F. Giants, spoke with Island News about this season’s success:
“It means a lot, they are playing great baseball together – when they were little kids, it’s every dad’s dream to have two sons, play baseball at the SEC level, on the same team.”
“It helped that I played ball, so I could help them when they were younger, I spoke a different language, but now we speak the same language – for me going through it, I kind of knew what it took, it was just a matter of if my children, my two sons were willing to do more than what it takes to reach that level”, said Aloy.
The brothers were not the biggest or strongest leading up to and during most of high school.
“They were the underdogs, I believe growing up, they weren’t very big. They were talented, but didn’t have the physicality, until maybe after COVID, Wehiwa grew six inches during COVID”, added Aloy.
Helping lead the Razorbacks to the College Baseball World Series in Nebraska, The Aloy brothers became the first siblings to earn First Team All-SEC honors.
Additionally, Wehiwa, Arkansas’ starting shortstop, won SEC player of the year and he’s a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award.
Beyond that, Kuhio, Wehiwa’s younger brother, picked up first-team All-SEC recognition as designated hitter.
The College Baseball World Series features many players with Hawaii ties, particularly on the Razorbacks, Punahou alum Nolan Souza is teammates with the Aloy brothers on Arkansas.
Aiva Arquette from St. Louis High School plays for Oregon State and Kaena Kiakona out Kamehameha Schools Kapalama plays for UCLA.
Jamie Aloy emphasized, “It means a lot, it’s a Polynesian thing, the boys and those who participate in college sports, from Hawaii especially, they not only represent the name of the jersey on the front, but the name of the jersey on the back.”
Arkansas will launch the College Baseball World Series Saturday against LSU in Omaha.
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