Dillon Gabriel gives back with upgrades for Mililani baseball

MILILANI — Dillon Gabriel is continuing his long-standing commitment to giving back to his alma mater, unveiling a newly renovated baseball clubhouse and locker room at Mililani High School last Saturday.

The project marks the sixth consecutive year Gabriel has contributed to upgrading one of the school’s athletic programs. The renovation was completed through his I’m Inspired Foundation, which also hosted the inaugural Hawai‘i Gridiron Games earlier in the week.

In partnership with Echelon and TUCCI, Gabriel helped outfit the new clubhouse with top-of-the-line workout equipment while also providing the team with new gear. The project follows last year’s upgrades to Mililani’s weight and training rooms, making it the second straight year Gabriel has funded improvements on campus.

Gabriel, now a NFL quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, said the vision was to create a centralized space that allows players to move efficiently through their daily routines as they work toward a championship.

“It all came together and just wanted them to have a space that they can take a lot of pride in,” Gabriel said. “I just think the efficiency, being on the field, lifting, going straight to the locker room — the batting cage is right here as well. Just wanted them to have that efficient environment where they can be at their best.”

Although Gabriel is best known for his football career, his roots in baseball run deep. He said he grew up playing the sport and had planned to join Mililani’s junior varsity team as a freshman before an opportunity in football changed his path.

After an injury to then-starting quarterback McKenzie Milton, Gabriel was called up to the varsity team — a moment that ultimately jumpstarted his football career.

“I love baseball. Played it when I was young and honestly have a lot of great memories,” Gabriel said. “Football just ended up being my direction, but always had friends that played baseball that I knew of and went to go watch.

“When we came down here as well, you could see what it could be and we made the vision come to life.”

Players say the upgraded facility has already made a difference.

Senior Taye Marxen said the transformation has given the team a renewed sense of pride and motivation.

“I’m really grateful for him to give back to us,” Marxen said. “He’s completely redone our entire facility. Before it was a little dirty because of all the baseball, but now it’s really clean and we love it over here.

“Every night we’re working out, lifting and just bonding together as a team. It’s going to help us hopefully get to the end goal of a state championship.”

Head coach Mark Hirayama said the improvements have energized the program and enhanced the players’ development.

“It just gets the guys excited about the whole process,” Hirayama said. “We can do the stuff on the field with what we have, but the equipment and facility that Dillon has provided us is just giving us another step up to getting stronger and bigger and making things a little bit easier on us to finish the whole process.

“The excitement about getting into the weight room and getting bigger, getting stronger and helping our overall game is key.”

Senior Koa Marzo Jr., a University of Hawai‘i signee, said the added resources leave little room for excuses.

“It means a lot to us. He helped us a lot by upgrading our stuff and giving us a locker in general so it helps us to get better every day and we have no excuse not to work hard,” Marzo said.

Junior Jonah Parker echoed that sentiment, noting that not all student-athletes have access to similar resources.

“It’s a big blessing to have all this new equipment that a lot of kids aren’t fortunate enough to have,” Parker said. “It’ll help us as a team because we’ll get stronger and bond in the weight room.”