Toro McClendon and Zama have their eyes on a drive to make it four straight Far East Division II titles. (Kevin Rossiter/Special to Stripes)
Can Zama bring forth a fourth Far East Division II tournament title?
That’s one of the questions being asked this week, as dawn breaks on Far East tournament week Wednesday, with D-II being played at Yokota and Division I slated for Humphreys.
Coach Joshua Dawes says he’s hoping his Trojans can keep it simple, whether in the field or at the plate.
“We just need to play our brand of baseball. Good starting pitching and hitting up and down the lineup,” said Dawes, whose Trojans went 14-9-1 overall this season, 13-2-1 against D-II foes.
“We are well tested with our mid-week Division I opponents,” Dawes said of teams like Nile C. Kinnick, St. Mary’s and American School In Japan. “The boys are focused on coming out and trying to defend our title.”
Of Zama’s run of three straight Far East titles, last season’s seemed the least likely, after a 6-16-1 regular season.
Yet, the Trojans, led by freshman pitcher Brody Kuchera, upset favored Robert D. Edgren 9-3, beating an Eagles squad that went 16-9 in 2025.
The Trojans still have steady pitching in Toro McClendon (5-0, 3.76 ERA), Kuchera (3-2, 5.47) and Aiden Hinkle (3-1, 3.50), and also a strong lineup with Sonny McClendon (.541 batting average, 1.387 OPS), Hinkle (.426, 1.124) and Toro McClendon (.415, 1.214) Six Zama batters averaged .400 or better during the season.
Edgren seems to have as good a shot as any despite a 7-10 ledger; the Eagles swept their last two weekend series at home, and Brett Lehner is described by at least one rival as the “Yoda” of Pacific coaches. Edgren won the first two D-II Far East titles in 2012 and ’13.
“Brett has a knack for getting the most out of his players,” said Frank Macias, who coached against him while at Matthew C. Perry in the late 2010s and is now coaching D-I Kadena.
Edgren is some 400 miles northeast of Tokyo, snow stays piled up at Misawa Air Base until late March and the Eagles must practice indoors for some six weeks as a result.
“Can you imagine what he could with a team that could practice outside for the whole season?” Macias said.
E.J. King (8-6-1), behind right-hander Jayden Arocho, is another team that might surprise. Perry (5-14) can rise up at any point behind its collection of arms, led by senior left-hander Aira Fujinuma.
As with every Far East baseball tournament, the team with the most capable pitchers stands the best chance, given the pitch-count limits put in place by DODEA-Pacific for safety reasons. The top-end limit is 125 for each pitcher for the whole tournament.
Thus, coaches and teams may face difficult choices. Do they save their ace pitcher for late in the tournament – as defending D-I champion Kubasaki did with Luka Koja last season – or might they have to tap that ace to win a close pool or playoff game just to advance?
“It’s a tough line,” said Humphreys senior pitcher Timothey Yrigoyen. “If you use that really good pitcher and burn through him to win a game you need to win, you might not be able to use him again.”
ASIJ's Billy Freund went 3-for-3 in the Mustangs' 2-1 win Saturday over Kinnick. (Lauren Casey/Special to Stripes)
Compounding DODEA-Pacific D-I’s challenges is the return of 2024 champion American School In Japan (16-5-1), with its do-everything star Billy Freund (.590, 1.448 at the plate and 4-1, 0.00 with a no-hitter to his credit).
The Mustangs didn’t defend their title last year because Far East was too late in May for them to play due to Advanced Placement tests and late school-year activity. This season, Far East is in late April, which permits ASIJ to return.
“ASIJ will always be the team to beat,” Kinnick coach Chad Stark said of a Mustangs team that has won eight of 16 D-I tournament titles.
Of the pitch count challenges, Stark said much rests with how many arms each staff has besides their ace.
“It’s going to come down to how the rest of the staff on everyone’s squad performs with the pitch count, timely hitting and some lucky breaks,” said Stark, whose Red Devils went 7-3.
Macias likes his Panthers’ and the Red Devils’ chances. “I think they’re a dark horse,” Macias said of Kinnick. “His pitching is deeper than ours is. Ours are more experienced, but he’s got depth.”
