David Kawada
dkawada@digitalsports.com
Upon first hearing of the passing of former Pearl City baseball coach Mel Seki at age 73, my thoughts immediately flashed back to 2007 and the OIA Championship Game. Covering the event on radio, one of my jobs was to do the post game interviews. Coach Seki was who I naturally wanted first.
Even on the local scene, many interviews with high school coaches contain what we in the media call “coach speak”. Those cliche comments that are politically correct, follow the middle path, and often display very little emotion.
On this night, the Chargers had just won their 2nd OIA title under Seki, with a squad of talented but young players. Many thought this team was a year away. For the head coach, it was known that this would be his final season after 14 years.
The exact wording of my first question escapes me. But I think I inquired on his pride for his players and their accomplishments.
At first he paused. Then he looked up. Considering that this is live radio, these few seconds seemed like an eternity.
Then his initial response was, “I didn’t even expect us to be here.”
He went on to praise his players for playing above their expectations, coming from behind in certain games, and so forth. But he was genuinely on a positive high, elated if you will. This was very refreshing, particularly from such a veteran of his craft
The Pearl City team would finish at #2 in the State, losing to Punahou in the HHSAA Title Game.
A former teacher and school administrator, Coach Seki taught the game of baseball to all his players. He taught them well, to the tune of a record of 151-70-3. But as the saying goes, victory is often sweeter when you least expect it.
I think Coach really enjoyed that OIA Championship.
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