Kevin Okuda had a number of clutch hits for Northwood High School’s baseball team, including two walk-off hits to lead the team. 
 
  

Okuda was one of Northwood’s top pitchers with a 1.36 ERA.

Kevin Okuda of Northwood made quite an impression in his first year of varsity baseball.

Okuda, the most valuable player of the Irvine World News all-city team, batted .388 with 10 RBIs and 16 runs scored. On the mound, the sophomore had a 5-4 record in 66 innings. He was named most valuable player of the Pacific Coast League after leading the Timberwolves to the league title.

"It was a really great season, we all bonded together and coach (Rob Stuart) was behind us and always supported us," Okuda said. And the results showed. "I was pretty happy with my season but it really helps when you have your coach believing in you. He always supported me and always believed in me."

Stuart was impressed with Okuda's competitive nature. "On the mound he just seemed to frustrate the opposition," he said. "I'm sure that they all saw this kid and said 'let's pad our stats.' All he did was just make pitches and compete. Kevin has the ability to put a little extra effort into his game when it counted. He'd get the ball thrown by him twice, foul off two tough pitches and then deliver the game wining hit. He'd give up a run in the first and then shut down the opponent for the rest of the game. It was the best single season performance in the history of our program."

Okuda, who played second base when he didn't pitch, has some special memories of the season, including a complete game victory against University in which he allowed five hits and struck out four. "My game against University was really memorable because at that point, I didn't really know how I was going to pitch this season, but I just came out and threw and the defense did well behind me and I ended up going the length, Okuda said.

Okuda also contributed at the plate, and had a big hit in Northwood's 2-1 victory over Irvine. "The Irvine game was a big standout game," he said. "That was my walk-off hit, so something like that is just a huge confidence booster," he said.

Okuda, who played for the freshman team last year, adjusted well to his first year on varsity. "It was definitely a big step but it was a lot easier with all the senior support," he said. "No one really treated me like a sophomore. It was all one team."

It culminated with Northwood winning the Pacific Coast League title. "That was a great run for us, we managed to put together a bunch of close games," he said. "It was a really competitive league but we always managed to do the little things to get it done."

Okuda hopes the Timberwolves can defend their title next year. "We're just going to go out and compete like we did this year and let it go from there," he said.