Honoka‘a baseball star Josyah Napoleon-Umeda recently received one of the highest honors in high school sports.

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Honoka‘a baseball star Josyah Napoleon-Umeda recently received one of the highest honors in high school sports.

The senior was named as Hawaii’s 2026 MaxPreps Player of the Year for his heroics in the Dragons’ state championship run. Selections for this award are based on individual and team success, as one winner is picked in each state.

The 5-foot-6 two-way phenom’s selection came as no surprise, as Napoleon-Umeda led the state in home runs (6), wins on the mound (7), runs (30), hits (30) and batting average (.577). He also tied with Ka‘u’s Caleb Crook in strikeouts with 59.

In the HHSAA DII state final against Damien, Napoleon-Umeda pitched perhaps the best game of his career — allowing no runs and three hits while striking out nine batters across all 7.0 innings. It was the ace’s second complete game of the season.

“The past three years we didn’t get it done, but we knew this year our team was looking even better and we just got it done,” Napoleon-Umeda said in an interview with ScoringLive after the May 9 championship.

Thanks to Napoleon-Umeda’s command in the state title game, he was named the HHSAA’s Most Outstanding Player for the DII tournament — while also being named to the All-Tournament team alongside teammates Isaac DeRego, Kamalaa Kaae-Petrie, Jayden Salazar and Chrys Coelho.

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In the BIIF Division II championship against Hawaii Prep, Napoleon-Umeda struck out seven batters in the 6-3 victory.

Napoleon-Umeda’s strongest stretch at the plate this season came between April 6 and May 7, where he went nine straight games with a hit, including four of them with three hits. He additionally homered five times in that stretch.

Napoleon-Umeda hit seven doubles and three triples throughout the season — also stealing 12 bases.

Honoka‘a finished the season a perfect 17-0 — leading the state in runs (162), hits (171), RBI (136), team batting average (.365), doubles (35), home runs (18), stolen bases (80), team ERA (0.40), strikeouts (179) and wins (17). The team’s state title was its first in program history and the school’s first state crown since 2015 (girls basketball).

The champs also logged 10 shutout wins, allowing just 14 runs all year.

In the HHSAA tournament, the Dragons beat Castle 9-0 in the quarterfinals, Kauai 5-2 in the semifinals and Damien 3-0 for the title.

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