Adam Tabieros is coming home.
Konawaena named Tabieros — a 2002 Konawaena graduate — as the head baseball coach this week, filling the void left when veteran coach Dave Distel stepped down after two years.
“This is a big opportunity,” Tabieros said. “To come back, coach the game I love and feel like I’m giving back to the community is a big thing.”
Tabieros was introduced Sunday and the Wildcats were thrilled to have him back on campus.
“As a former Konawaena student-athlete, Adam knows the Big Island, the school and baseball and his care and interest in giving back is very impressive,” Konawaena Principal Shawn Suzuki said. “He has a bright future.”
Tabieros’ full-time gig is as an EMT/firefighter with the County of Hawaii.
After high school graduation, Tabieros continued his baseball career and education in Northern California at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. From there, he moved to California State University East Bay, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.
Tabieros said he gained valuable experience at those stops and hopes to disperse that knowledge to his student-athletes.
“When I left Hawaii it was a big surprise to me that there was so much beyond the fundamentals of seeing the ball, hitting the ball, running bases,” Tabieros said. “It had a lot more to do with your mentality and the fine tuning of those skills. I never got that when I was in Hawaii.
“All the learning I did in college and beyond, I can bring that back to Konawaena and help a new generation of baseball players.”
Konawaena finished 7-6 last season in Big Island Interscholastic Federation play and lost to Hawaii Prep in the Division II league semifinals. The squad loses first-team All-BIIF selection catcher Evyn Yamaguchi and second-team pitcher Jordan Mirahira-Young.
“We are always going to be a competitive team,” Tabieros said. “This is a group of eager and skilled students. We will show people who we are out on the field.”