Waiakea’s Trayden Tamiya wins college Gold Glove

May 31, 2023

by: Christian Shimabuku

Posted: Jun 28, 2023 / 06:00 PM HST

Updated: Jun 28, 2023 / 07:06 PM HST

Waiakea alumnus and Air Force senior Trayden Tamiya was recently named a collegiate Gold Glover at second base, which was awarded by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings.

Tamiya is the first player in Air Force history to win the award.

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Tamiya wrapped up his collegiate career for the Falcons in May, hitting .329 as a senior with 82 hits, including two home runs, and 43 RBI. Defensively, he made only two errors in 243 chances at second base.

“It’s awesome. It’s always a dream growing up and watching the big players do crazy things with their gloves and it’s easy when you have Hawaii boys to look up to like Kolten Wong, guys that already did it and have made it,” Tamiya told KHON2 sports director Rob DeMello. “So it gives you something to work for and it’s such an honor.

#Hawaii's Trayden Tamiya ends collegiate baseball playing career at #AirForce by earning #GoldGlove as top defensive second baseman in the country. The second Lieutenant will remain close to the game prior to pilot training https://t.co/IPHlQ93Guh @WaiakeaHigh @trayden_tamiya 🤙🏽 pic.twitter.com/vMylzbssPL

“It’s always just a reflection of all the coaches and all the people that are in my life and all who help. It definitely wasn’t an individual effort by far. It was a whole community that came together and helped me out. So I really appreciate it, made me feel so thankful for everybody that was in my life.”

With his college career over and an obligation to serve for at least five years, Tamiya hopes to stay close to the sport.

“I always want to stay a part of the game, something that I grew up with, something I love, and it’s always something that’s hard to give up,” he said. “So I’ll be sticking around the Air Force for next year. I’ll be one of the assistant coaches there for a year while I wait for pilot training. I’ll be going to pilot training in Columbus, Miss. the following year. So it’ll be it’ll be nice, but I’ll definitely keep the game in some aspect of my life.”

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