By Vern Hee

Roy Uyeno is from Pearl City, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. He has been coaching for the last 20 years and has played baseball for most of his life.

Uyeno is one of four coaches, who coach with Brian Hayes, head varsity baseball coach.

He and his wife Charlotte have their second oldest son Chad playing baseball for the Trojans. Chad is the youngest of three. Chad pitches for the team and is currently the best pitcher on the team.

When Chad is not pitching, he plays shortstop.

When asked, if he thinks he puts too much pressure on his son as a coach, he replied, “Not as much as my wife. I will bark at him and then I will stop and then Charlotte would nag his butt. It is alright to have my boy, but he also has his faults because daddy is the coach, he thinks he can lay off of things. So Coach Brian puts him down,” said Roy.

Roy played high school baseball in Hawaii and when he graduated from high school he played college ball with Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona.

“I played all the way up to senior division and played Pima Junior College for two years. I gave it up because I did not make it. So I went back home,” said Roy.

Although he did not make it to the big leagues, he did not give up the game. He went home to coach. His expertise in baseball is infield and catching.

“I was an infielder and I caught in my college days. I was the bull pen catcher. I also played second base,” he said.

Since he started coaching little league, Roy has not quit coaching. He coached six little league championships before he started to coach high school ball. He started coaching high school baseball for the Trojans in 2004 with Lou Valenzuela and then with Rich Lauver, two former Trojans coaches.

Under Hayes, Roy is the outfield coach. He said he has five good outfielders and believes his starting outfielders led by AJ Segura in centerfield will do well.

The outfield is working hard on throwing out base runners. Throwing out runners from the outfield he said is the hardest thing he teaches.

“We got to throw for the runners when they are running for the bases. Getting the ground ball and on the same move we have to be throwing. We stress this. We also stress communication. They did well this weekend because they are hitting the cutoff man,” said Roy.

Hayes believes the outfield is his deepest position.

“Dillon Ault batted 600. He is a sophomore. We want him to play left field, it’s up to him. Kody Kovatch, Christian Balding and Brian Englund are now battling for the last few spots in the outfield,” said Hayes.

According to Roy, AJ Segura is the best outfielder for the Trojans. Roy expects Segura to start in centerfield. “This year we have a solid bunch of boys. They have strong arms and they are fast. The best thing about our team this year is the outfield. We will start to hit. During the last summer the outfield hit well,” said Roy.

He believes last year was a rebuilding year, and this year the team will do well.

“We have a young team again and most of the kids have all played. I think we have a good core of kids,” he said.

After his son graduates from high school next year, he will be done with coaching. His dream is to take his son back to the islands for college ball.

“When he graduates I hope for Chad to play college ball in Hawaii. That is my plan. If Chad goes back, I have to go back too,” smiled Roy.