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Varen Sabino

Campbell baseball  •   #21    

Varen Sabino picked up his senior season where he left off last year.

The Campbell pitcher/first baseman turned in a solid two-way performance in the Sabers' 11-0 win over visiting Waianae last Wednesday. The game, which was called in the bottom of the sixth inning due to the mercy rule, served as the first game of Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I West play for both teams.

Sabino, who stands 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weight 190 pounds, was lights out on the mound against the Seariders. He allowed one hit in five innings of work, with five strikeouts and no walks. Sabino threw 51 of his 76 total pitches for strikes.

Campbell backed Sabino up with 13 hits on the day; he helped his own cause at the plate by going 3 for 3 and driving in a couple of runs while batting out of the clean-up spot.
 
"He did hit the ball well that day and so did a few other guys — Ty Stephens hit well also (3 for 4, four RBI, run scored) — but just so happened that Varen was the pitcher and a hitter that game so he was in two critical positions," Sabers coach Wayne Nagamine said.

Sabino, a third-year varsity player and second-year starter, battled some command issues despite the dazzling final line. He hit a batter in the first, second and fourth innings and allowed his only base hit — a single off the bat of Waianae's Dallas De La Cruz — with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Sabino wound up stranding four Seariders on base, only one of which reached scoring position.

"He settled down on the mound in the middle part of his outing," Nagamine said. "He threw less pitches than he did in the first couple innings."

As a junior last season, Sabino was one of four Campbell players to earn First Team All-OIA D1 West honors. He was the only Saber to pick-up First Team All-Hawaii honors, however.

"He's a hard worker," Nagamine said. "That kid will come out and do extras. He'll work hard, put in a little more time, whatever he needs to do and good in the classroom."

Nagamine, who has several stints in varying capacities with the program dating back to 1983, was the JV coach for the 2017 season, when Sabino was a seldom-used freshman.

"He got a little hurt his freshman year, so he had a little setback and didn't get much playing time, but he' has come a long way," Nagamine said. "He became a whole player — he's working hard on his defense, his pitching got a lot better, his hitting got a lot better — and he's doing pretty well, so he's gotten great gains in all the things that he's done."

Although Sabino took the ball as the starting pitcher and batted fourth in the opener, Nagamine said it is about a "whole team concept."

"We're trying to keep everybody even-keel and so I don't want to say that he's our ‘No. 1' (pitcher), but he's one of our starters; Dayton Robinson is another one, so we have a few decent pitchers that just keep working hard," Nagamine said. "Varen is going to be one of many important factors that we need offensively and as a pitcher and playing first base defensively. We need everybody to work hard and come in and do what we need to do to play well. Varen is an important guy and we're expecting him to have a good season."

Nagamine added that Sabino is continuing to learn to make in-game adjustments, while both hitting and pitching.

"He's not an unknown pitching, people know him now and I think that goes for a lot of our kids. We, as a coaching staff, we're blessed where we're coming into a situation where we have a lot of talented players," said Nagamine, who took over for Glenn Flores, who served as interim coach last season.

Sabino's preseason, interestingly enough, wasn't exactly foretelling of his dominance against Waianae last week.

"He had kind of a tough preseason where people were pitching around him so he had to learn to be patient and he had to come up with different plants to hit," Nagamine said. "As a pitcher, he needed to understand that he needed to pitch. Like anybody else, you cannot just come in and throw fastballs; you need to change speeds and spot pitches to be effective."

The win over the Seariders was a good first step for the Sabers, to be sure.

"It was really big for us. Any time you take the field, you want to make sure we a good outing and Waianae is a good team, but we got lucky enough to score some runs on them and then that helped us set the tone for our next game," Nagamine said.

Campbell rode that momentum into the weekend and managed to come away with a 12-8 win over Mililani — in a rematch of last year's league championship game — Saturday afternoon.

Sabino accounted for two RBI in the victory over the Trojans. He drove in a run with his single and pushed across another run with a bases-loaded walk — both plate appearances coming in an 11-run first inning. Sabino came around to score both times.

"Luckily, Mililani wasn't on their A-game all the way around, but for us, we keep telling the players that we gotta take care of what we can take care of and we still have a long ways to go, but we're very happy with what we have so far and everybody knows we still gotta work harder to get better and accomplish what everybody wants," Nagamine said.

What the Sabers cannot control is whether they will be able to complete the season. With the HHSAA's decision over the weekend to suspend games and practices for all spring sports teams in each of its five member leagues due to the COVID-19 public health threat, there is no guarantee there will be any baseball to be played for the foreseeable future.

"It's hard right now, but the team is seeming to work on bonding together and that's a really good thing that we're trying to get with everybody is picking each other up and doing certain things that I think help the overall team," Nagamine said. "Hopefully we can continue to do this, but it's not just baseball but everything (that's affected). Right now there's nothing to do really, you can't go nowhere, so I think it's real tough for them."

Campbell (2-0) is the No. 4 team in this week's ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings.

BASEBALL
Kash Akita, Waimea — Batted 2 for 4 with three RBI in a win over Kauai and struck out four, walked one and allowed two unearned runs on eight hits in seven innings pitched in a loss to Kapaa

Alohi Arecchi, Damien — Batted 2 for 3 with a walk, three RBI, one stolen base and a run scored in a loss to Kamehameha

Kahaku Asing, Aiea — Struck out six, walked four and allowed one run on one hit in six innings pitched in a win over Pearl City

Drew Basque, Konawaena — Batted 3 for 4 with a home run and four RBI in a win over Kau and batted 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored in a win over Honokaa

Erik Bell, Waialua — Struck out 12, walked one and allowed one hit in five scoreless innings pitched in a win over Kahuku

Laitin Bradley, PAC-5 — Homered, drove in three runs and stole a base in a win over Damien

Shane Cachola, Moanalua — Struck out four, walked four and allowed one earned run on three hits in seven innings pitched in a loss to Castle

Noa Cardinez, Kapaa — Struck out eight, walked one and allowed one unearned run on five hits in a complete-game win over Waimea

Reece Carganilla, Farrington — Batted 3 for 4 with a walk, RBI and three runs scored in a win over Castle

Jordan Cezar, Aiea — Struck out seven, walked three and allowed one unearned run on two hits in 5 1/3 innings pitched in a win over Kapolei

Calvin Choe, Mililani — Batted 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored in a loss to Campbell

Chavis Conceicao, Kailua — Doubled, reached on a fielder's choice, had a sacrifice fly and drove in four runs in a win over Kalani

Koa Eldredge, Punahou — Batted 3 for 4 with a double, RBI, stolen base and two runs scored in a win over Kamehameha

Devin Gallano, Campbell — Batted 3 for 3 with a double, four RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in a win over Mililani

Peyton Hino, Maryknoll — Batted 2 for 3 with a triple, three RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored in a win over Iolani

Brayden Hiraki, Iolani — Struck out three, walked two and allowed two hits in a complete-game shutout win over Mid-Pacific

Dahlus Hood, Kauai — Batted 3 for 4 with a double and two RBI in a loss to Waimea

Jameson Hussey, Kamehameha — Batted 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI in a win over Damien

Tui Ickes, Kamehameha — Batted 3 for 4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in a loss to Punahou

Kobe Iwai, Kamehameha — Batted 2 for 3 with a sacrifice and three RBI in a loss to Punahou

Keanu Kalaola, Kailua — Homered, walked twice and drove in three runs in a win over Kaiser

Nainoa Kane-Yates, Kauai — Struck out five, walked one and allowed one earned run on six hits in five innings pitched and drove in two runs in a win over Kapaa

Landon Kimura, Moanalua — Batted 3 for 4 with an RBI and a stolen base in a loss to Castle

Kyle Kinney, Damien — Batted 4 for 4 with a double and a run scored in a loss to PAC-5

Casey Kitagawa, Kamehameha — Struck out nine, walked one and allowed one run on two hits in five innings pitched in a win over Damien

Caleb Lomavita, Saint Louis — Batted 2 for 4 with a triple, double, two RBI and two runs scored in a win over Maryknoll

Kainoa Mane, Farrington — Walked one and allowed one earned run on eight hits in a complete game and batted 2 for 4 with a double, one walk and three RBI in a win over Castle

Caleb Markwith, Kaiser — Batted 2 for 2 with a walk and a stolen base and pitched a scoreless inning of relief to register the save in a win over Roosevelt

Lee Matsuzaki, Mid-Pacific — Batted 3 for 5 with a stolen base and two runs scored in a win over PAC-5

Jaimison Medeiros, Konawaena — Struck out three, walked one and allowed three hits in five scoreless innings pitched and hit a solo home run in a win over Honokaa

Dylan Muniz, Waialua — Batted 3 for 4 with a triple and an RBI in a win over Kahuku

Makana Murashige, Punahou — Batted 3 for 3 with a walk, two RBI and three runs scored in a win over Kamehameha

John Navarro, Aiea — Struck out four, walked two and allowed two unearned runs on one hit in 5 2/3 innings pitched in a win over Kapolei

JT Navyac, Saint Louis — Struck out eight, walked none and allowed four hits in a complete-game shutout win over Punahou and batted 2 for 3 with a sacrifice, two RBI and a run scored in a win over Maryknoll

Matt Nishimura, Punahou — Batted 2 for 4 with a triple and three RBI in a win over Kamehameha

Kody Pilor, Farrington — Batted 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored in a win over Castle

Hanu Racoma, Kamehameha — Batted 2 for 3 with a walk and three RBI in a win over Damien

Joshua Reis, Mililani — Struck out 11, walked three and allowed one hit in five scoreless innings pitched in a win over Pearl City

Tyler Shimabukuro, Punahou — Allowed one unearned run on two hits with one walk in five innings pitched in a loss to Saint Louis

Kodey Shojinaga, Mid-Pacific — Struck out three, walked one and allowed two unearned runs on three hits in five innings pitched and batted 5 for 5 with an RBI in a win over PAC-5

Tate Shimao, Iolani — Batted 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI in a loss to Maryknoll and batted 2 for 3 with a run scored in a win over Mid-Pacific

Keanu Silva, Kauai — Batted 3 for 5 with a double and a run scored in a loss to Waimea

Ty Stephens, Campbell — Batted 3 for 4 with four RBI and a run scored in a win over Waianae

Beau Sylvester, Kamehameha — Batted 2 for 3 with two doubles, a walk, RBI, two stolen bases and three runs scored in a win over Damien

Zach Tanabe, Roosevelt — Struck out six, walked one and allowed one earned run on nine hits in six innings pitched in a loss to Kaiser

Tommy Tereschuk, Radford — Struck out five, walked one and allowed one earned run on five hits in a complete-game win over Waipahu

Hanalei Warren, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Batted 3 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored in a win over Honokaa

Kimo Wilinski, Kailua — Struck out three, walked two and allowed one run on four hits in six innings pitched in a win over Kaiser

Jacob Tyler Williams, Radford — Batted 2 for 3 with a double, three RBI and a run scored in a win over Waipahu

Richie Vidal III, Saint Louis — Struck out four, walked three and allowed four hits in 5 1/3 scoreless innings pitched in a win over Maryknoll

Ethan Yamaguchi, Konawaena — Batted 3 for 4 with a double, four RBI and a run scored in a win over Kau

BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Keegan Au Yuen, Punahou — Had 20 assist, two kills, one block assist and an ace in a two-set win over Iolani

Jack Deuchar, Punahou — Had 13 kills and two aces in a two-set win over Iolani

Antonio Iu, Farrington — Had 23 assists, two block assists and one kill in a three-set win over Kaimuki

Jacob Kamanao, Pearl City — Had 17 kills and an ace in a four-set win over Waipahu and had 18 kills, three aces and a block assist in a five-set win over Waialua

Makoa Kaneaikala, Roosevelt — Had 18 kills, four digs, three aces and two assists in a three-set win over Kailua

Jordan Kawahakui, Roosevelt — Had 23 assists, three aces and a block assist in a three-set win over Farrington and had 38 assists, two digs and one ace in a three-set win over Kailua

Daniel Midallia, Nanakuli — Had 30 assists, 14 digs, three kills and three aces in a three-set win over Waialua

Fati Seei-Tofi, Pearl City — Had 20 kills, two block assists and one ace in a four-set win over Waipahu