HONOLULU, Hawaii — Mililani baseball finally reached the summit of Hawaii high school baseball, beating PAC-Five 1-0 in the 2026 HHSAA Division I championship game to secure the program’s first state title. The winning moment came in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Koa Marzo Jr. brought home pinch runner Jake Nishimoto with the decisive RBI single, ending years of frustration and putting Mililani into the state record book at Les Murakami Stadium.
The championship game was defined by patience, pitching and composure. Mililani stayed locked in through six scoreless innings before breaking through in its final at-bat, while junior right-hander Ezra Ugale delivered a complete-game shutout. According to the official box score, Ugale allowed four hits, issued two walks and struck out five over seven innings, while Mililani played error-free defense behind him. In a title game decided by one swing and one run, that combination proved enough.
For Mililani, the victory carried weight far beyond a single night. Head coach Mark Hirayama, who took over the program in 2009, had guided the Trojans to the state final before but watched them finish second in 2013, 2014 and 2019. This time, the breakthrough finally came, rewarding a program that had been close often enough to understand how difficult the last step can be. The title was not simply about winning one game; it was about finishing a journey that had stretched across multiple generations of players.
Mililani’s run to the championship also showed how balanced the team had become by tournament week. The Trojans opened with an 11-1 win over Kamehameha-Hawaii in the quarterfinals, then edged ILH champion Kamehameha 3-2 in the semifinals before closing the deal against PAC-Five. Taj Firmin, Zayne Hookala and Ugale each played key roles on the mound during that stretch, giving Mililani the kind of pitching depth that often decides championship baseball in May.
PAC-Five’s own tournament run added further significance to the final. The Wolfpack arrived in the championship after beating Kaiser, Baldwin and top-seeded Waiakea, turning into one of the event’s biggest stories. That made Mililani’s narrow win even more meaningful, because it came against a team that had already shown it could handle pressure and upset favored opponents. The final itself reflected that tension from start to finish, with both teams locked in a low-scoring duel until the last inning.
As players and coaches looked back on the title, the emotional side of the achievement stood out as much as the result. Team members spoke about hearing from relatives, former players and supporters after the game, underscoring how long the community had waited for this moment. For a program with a strong local following, the championship was felt as a shared accomplishment, not just a team statistic.
That sense of connection was also reflected in the presence of Zander Young, a Mililani freshman and member of the Mililani Firebirds, who became a familiar and uplifting figure around the team. The Trojans’ bond with him grew over time, and coaches and players described his enthusiasm as a genuine source of energy throughout the season. In a championship story built on execution and resilience, that relationship gave the team’s journey an even more human dimension.
In the end, Mililani’s first state baseball championship was about more than a walk-off hit. It was the product of years of program building, repeated lessons from past disappointments, and a tournament run powered by pitching, defense and timely execution. For the Trojans, the 2026 title now stands as both a breakthrough and a benchmark — proof that persistence, when sustained long enough, can finally turn a contender into a champion.
