Longtime local baseball coach James Hirayama joined the Vulcan baseball coaching staff as a volunteer assistant in the fall of 2016.
In 2017, Hirayama coached the Nobu Yamauchi RBI team (Hilo) that won the Senior Division World Series Championship. He has served as the head coach for that program since 2013.
Hirayama was an assistant coach at Waiakea High School in 2012 and 2013, helping the Warriors win the HHSAA State Championship in '12. He also has over ten years experience coaching softball at both Pahoa High School (2002-05) and with the Nobu Yamauchi RBI team (2004-2012), making four World Series appearances and winning the national title in 2009.
He has twice been named the UH Hilo athletic department Volunteer of the Year. The local native received his associate degree from UH Hilo in electrical installation and maintenance technology, and has now worked 29 years in the electric construction industry. He is currently the Vice President of Hirayama Brothers Electric.
James is married to wife Emily, and their son Jamieson is a pitcher on the UH Hilo baseball team.
