Pair of Standout Mililani Infielders to play Division I Collegiate Baseball

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 13, 2024

WAIKIKI — The Mililani Trojans boasted the best shortstop and third baseman in the OIA Division-I West baseball season in 2024.

They also are two of the top prospects in the class of 2025 that have signed on to play Division I collegiate baseball.

Malosi Mata’afa-Alferos and Aukai Araujo-Waiau affirmed their year-long verbal commitments to their respective college programs Wednesday morning at the annual Hawai’i State National Letter of Intent Signing Day at the Honolulu Elks Lodge.

Mata’afa-Alferos, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound shortstop, inked his commitment to play for the University of Oregon while Araujo-Waiau, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound third baseman, is staying home to play for the University of Hawai’i. The pair earned first team league honors in the spring as juniors.

“It’s a big accomplishment. I’m forever grateful for this opportunity,” said Mata’afa-Alferos, who owns a 4.07 GPA. “I thank God for putting me where I am. I thank my parents for shaping me into the person I am today. It’s just a big blessing.”

Wednesday morning cemented a commitment that Mata’afa-Alferos made more than 13 months ago on social media. He said that the way the Ducks ran their program influenced his decision to pick them.

“Everything was so high tempo,” Mata’afa-Alferos said. “They have a plan for me. It just felt like a family. It felt like home. I just want to thank the coaches for giving me the opportunity and helping me adjust and I know they’ll develop me into a better player.”

Mata’afa-Alferos, who is also an accomplished Samoan fire knife dancer, had a hit in 11 of 12 regular season games last season and finished with a .391 batting average for the year. He plans to major in business management, but isn’t ruling out a possibility of a career in the big leagues. 

“Future plans is to go to college, hopefully get drafted out of high school. If it doesn’t go my way, I’m totally find with that, get to develop at the University of Oregon. After that, get drafted, play in the MLB for 10 years plus and just take life slow.”

Mililani’s Malosi Mata’afa-Alferos comes home to score a run against Pearl City in the 2024 OIA opener. | Michael Lasquero for ScoringLive

Araujo-Waiau, announced his commitment nearly a year ago in late November of 2023. He said it “means everything” to put pen to paper after Hawai’i coach Rich Hill and the Rainbow Warriors gave him “love and support” and make him feel at home.

“It’s really nice to make everything official and I’m just really excited for this opportunity.”

The Mililani senior intends to study sports medicine while playing collegiate baseball. But before he plays at the next level, he is focused on helping the Trojans bounce back after missing the state tournament for the first time since 2012.

“We have a lot of work to do, but coming off of last year, we need to work on some things, but we should bounce back this year. We have some new people that came in and we’ll be prepared,” said Araujo-Waiau.

Mililani coach Mark Hirayama, who was in attendance at the signing day event, said his two senior infielders have worked hard to get to this moment.

“It’s great for the program, but more importantly, it’s good kids that worked hard to achieve their goals,” he said.

“All comes down to work ethic and being good young men that are going to go out and do good things. Proud of those guys for the work that they put in.”