From Hawaii to Alaska, a new family tradition

Matt Inouye sat near the home dugout at Hermon Brothers Field tightening the laces on his catcher's mitt mere hours ahead of game time on a recent afternoon as players made their way onto the field for a pre-game workout. It's familiar territory for Inouye, who spent a summer with the Mat-Su Miners 23 years ago.

Inouye, a member of Mat-Su's 2003 squad, is back in Palmer, with a view of the game from a different perspective. He's a former collegiate and minor league player, and Major League Baseball draft pick, and is now coaching at the college level.

But more than that, Inouye is a father who has the chance to see his son, Hayzen, carry on a new family tradition and play for the Miners.

"It's a pretty cool experience coming back as a parent and being able to not so much focus on baseball, but focus on the experience and everything around that Mat-Su has to offer and Alaska has to offer," Matt said. "For me, when I was playing, I was pretty locked in as a player. I wanted to try and move up level to level and see how far I could get. I didn't take too much time away from the field. It's nice being out here and experiencing this side of it with him being on the field."

Matt was a freshman at the University of Hawaii when the program's pitching coach helped set him up with the opportunity to play for the Miners in the famed Alaska Baseball League. That was Pete Christopher's first year as the Miners general manager. More than 20 years later, Matt was in contact with Christopher, and hoped Hayzen could find his way to Palmer.

During a trip to Matt's home state of Hawaii, Christopher had dinner with the Inouye family.

"I asked Pete, if he commits somewhere, (Division I), can he come up and play?," Matt said. "I don't know what Pete's feelings were, but he kind of nodded his head a little bit. And so when he committed to Cal Poly, I gave Pete a call and gave it a shot in the dark, to see if he could come up and play."

Now Hayzen is enjoying an opportunity his dad had. He is a catcher and designated hitter for the 2026 club, and has appeared in 13 games as of July 7.

"It's awesome. It's following in his footsteps," Hayzen said. "I'm trying to experience the same stuff that he's already gone through. It's something we can share."

Matt entered the ABL after his freshman season of college baseball. Hayzen graduated from Kaiser High School in Honolulu during the spring, and is enjoying the extra time to prepare for his soon-to-be Division I career.

"This is a complete eye-opener for me," Hayzen said.  "Like my dad said, the speed of the game is so much faster than high school baseball. But I think this is great for me, and it'll get me ready for the fall at Cal Poly."

Hayzen has been one of Hawaii's top high school hitters at Kaiser. He batted .416 and led his division in hits as a junior. Hayzen joins a California Polytechnic State University program that finished 19th in the Division I national polls, won the Big West conference and tourney titles, and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional in 2026.

Matt said he entered a different world — on and off the field — when he made the trip from his home state of Hawaii to Alaska in 2003.

"It was my first real summer being away from home, and I remember being a little apprehensive about coming up here. I'd never really been to a country kind of area. I've always kind of been in the city and in Hawaii," Matt said. "I didn't know what to expect really, but it was my first real summer ball away from home."

Matt said he has memories of the Mat-Su Valley off the field. A host family had a pool table and a lake off the backyard. Players would hang out there during the summer.

There was a fishing trip that he'll never forget.

"I do remember I almost drowned in a river. I had no idea the tides were coming up in the rivers. Me and one of the pitchers went fishing one day, crossed the little river, and then we were on the other side of it fishing and ended up not catching anything. Trying to cross back over, the tide came up and the water started going into our waders. We freaked out. I dug my pole into the ground and eventually got back to the side that we weren't supposed to be on. A boat came by and picked us up. They asked if we had a gun, and we said no. They said there were a lot of bears on that side," Matt said. "That was a fond memory of mine."

But most of that summer was about baseball.

"I remember playing baseball a lot. The baseball part was kind of more memorable than outside baseball," Matt said.

Matt was a four-year college standout at Hawaii. He earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors after hitting a team-best .339 as a freshman. Inouye was also a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference selection. He was picked by the Chicago White Sox in the 21st round of the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft, and played four years of minor league baseball.

Inouye hit .347 as a senior at Hawaii.

He is now an assistant coach at Chaminade University in Honolulu.

Jeremiah Bartz is a longtime sports writer who resides in Palmer.