Vulcan red has been in Casey Yamauchi's blood for as long as he can remember: from attending Hawai'i Hilo baseball games when he was two years old to walking across the stage at this past spring commencement ceremony.
Along the way, Yamauchi set several Hawai'i Hilo baseball program records and closed out his prolific collegiate career by being named the 2022-23 Hawai'i Hilo Male Athlete of the Year at the annual All-Sports Banquet earlier this year in May.
Yamauchi holds the Vulcans' all-time career records in hits, doubles, runs and stolen bases in addition to being named an Academic All-American, earning three All-PacWest Team selections and receiving two All-Region honors.
But for Casey, it was not only another notch on his belt, but also more legacy points for the competition within his family to match older brother Dalen, who was named 2014-15 Hawai'i Hilo Male Athlete of the Year as a member of the men's golf team.
"Every year I tried not to look at my stats or allow my dad or anybody else to tell me what they are because I didn't want to let it get to me," Yamauchi said. "I was really hoping to make playoffs more than anything, but I think the [award] was something I wanted so I could match my brother, for sure."
The 2018 Waiakea High School graduate doesn't remember too much of his brother's time out on the links for the Vulcans, but as a Hilo-native and with the recent rise of nationally-recognized homegrown talent in baseball, a younger Yamauchi felt he fell into the stigma against staying home to play for UH Hilo — which he of course has since then turned a complete 180 on.
"When he was playing I think I looked down on it because I was like, 'Aw, he could've went D-I,'" Yamauchi recalled. "But he chose to stay home and he did really well in front of everyone here. My family got to watch him . I got to watch him. He made a name for himself. I didn't plan on following him, but I don't know if I would have made the same decision if he wasn't so successful here."
As an undersized middle infielder, Yamauchi didn't get a whole lot of looks out of high school but quickly made a splash on the scene to start 38 games as a freshman on the way to earning a selection on the All-PacWest Second Team. Year No. 2 brought on somewhat of a sophomore slump batting just .234 with a .882 fielding percentage through 12 games before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Yamauchi got back in stride in 2021 to lead the team in hitting, but it wasn't until 2022 when the light bulb went off inside thanks to the help of a teammate.
"The work ethic definitely didn't come together until Mathis (Yamamoto) had a talk with me about working hard. On the field it was always easy, but one day at practice he told me, 'Hey, imagine what you could do if you worked out just a little bit," Yamauchi said. "At first, I thought he was saying I wasn't good enough, but he explained to me the work he did just to be able to play with us. I would show up and just flip a switch. That really opened my eyes. I started lifting and now I hit home runs."
Yamamoto served as the team's strength coach this past season while finishing up his bachelor's in Kinesiology & Exercise Sciences.
This season, the Vulcans made huge leaps with a top 25 national ranking five weeks out of the season, getting as high as No. 13 in the country.
"It goes to show UH Hilo is on the come up," Yamauchi said. "Our program is definitely growing, the talent is getting better and I was just part of the process to get us there. I enjoyed my time and I'm glad to be a part of the process."
Yamauchi also credits head coach Kallen Miyataki for helping put himself in front of the right people to garner opportunities for the next level. Earlier this month, Yamauchi signed a free agent deal to join the MLB's Oakland Athletics organization.
"It's all about getting the opportunity to play. A lot of guys go away but they don't get the opportunity to play every day," Yamauchi said. "Just this opportunity to go to the next level out of UH Hilo, I think that's really big. Dylan Spain '21 made it. Jordan Kurokawa '16 made it. As time goes on, I think more people will stay home and get to play in front of their families."
As for the (far) future, Yamauchi hopes to pile on his double bachelor's in Community and Kinesiology & Exercise Sciences and further his education to potentially become a physician's assistant. He also sees himself coaching.
"I always said that I want to coach high school so I can get Waiakea a state title," Yamauchi joked, who finished as a state runner-up in consecutive years during high school. "But you know, they say that, 'Those who can't do, teach," and I'm not ready to accept that fate yet."
