How a bucket-list MCWS trip turned into reality for Arkansas' Bash Braddahs

OMAHA, Neb. -- In summertime 2019, Jamie Aloy pulled unneurotic capable wealth to alert himself and his sons to Omaha for the Men's College World Series. It was a bucket-list travel for Aloy, a erstwhile assemblage ballplayer raising a household successful Wailuku, Hawai'i.

They stayed successful a motel crossed the stream successful Council Bluffs, Iowa, and sat successful the inexpensive seats. They went to each game. His boys, Wehiwa, 15, and Kuhio, 13, loved baseball, and Jamie wanted them to "feel and smell" the ambiance truthful that it wouldn't look truthful far-fetched to someday play there.

The boys didn't accidental much, speech from a fewer "wows."

"It's a civilization thing," Jamie said of their quiescent demeanors.

Six years later, connected Thursday, Jamie Aloy was astatine the downtown Omaha Marriott with his grown-up sons. Wehiwa, present 21, and Kuhio, present 19, are prima hitters for the No. 3 wide Arkansas Razorbacks, and they were astir to play successful the Men's College World Series. Jamie gave them a hug.

"Can you judge we're present again?" helium asked them.

The brothers looked astir and didn't accidental anything.

"I deliberation they cannot judge it either," Jamie said. "I mean, what bash you say?"

For 5 months, the Aloys person made plentifulness of sound successful Fayetteville, Arkansas. Wehiwa has deed 20 location runs and earned SEC Player of the Year, and is simply a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award. Kuhio, who's 17 months younger, has deed 13 homers and driven successful a team-high 70 runs.

Together, they're known arsenic the "Bash Braddahs."

The sanction is successful deference to Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, the slugging duo who led the Oakland A's to a 1989 World Series title. The Aloys weren't live then, of course, but learned astir them arsenic kids erstwhile they searched, "hardest-hit balls ever successful MLB." They marveled implicit aged videos of the duo, who would bash each other's forearms successful solemnisation of homers. But the brothers bash not precisely transportation the towering carnal traits of Canseco and McGwire. Wehiwa is 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds; Kuhio is 6-1 and 205.

Wehiwa said they get their spot from lifting a batch of weights and eating a batch of their parents' cooking. Their parents property it to land beingness -- surviving 5 minutes from the formation and 5 minutes from the river, wherever they'd run, swim, surf and fish.

"We're conscionable raised differently," Kuhio said.

Before Jamie Aloy leaves for a travel to Fayetteville, helium cooks each of their Hawai'ian favorites -- Kalua Pig, Chicken Long Rice and Lomi-Lomi Salmon -- and packs them successful a cooler.

The Bash Braddahs' communicative began successful Wailuku, a municipality of astir 16,000 located connected Maui Island, with Wehiwa smacking a integrative shot disconnected a tee arsenic a toddler. Soon, the brothers would beryllium playing whiffle shot together, the competitions oftentimes getting chippy. (They inactive play whiffle shot erstwhile they travel backmost home).

They competed successful beauteous overmuch each sport, but it was clear, aboriginal on, that shot was their love. Jamie Aloy said determination were 2 shot leagues connected the island, and the lone existent mode a subordinate could gauge his endowment was to spell to the mainland. There were glimpses, similar erstwhile Wehiwa was 8 and turning treble plays and Napua, the Bash Braddahs mom, asked her husband, "Is that normal?"

The boys' talents became much evident connected all-star teams that competed connected the West Coast.

Wehiwa grew six inches successful 2020 during the pandemic. Napua, an obstetrics nurse, was the lone 1 who wasn't connected lockdown. The household acceptable up a mini gym successful the garage, and each helium did was eat, slumber and bid each day.

Still, coming retired of precocious school, Wehiwa was an chartless enlistee -- if helium could adjacent beryllium called a recruit. Sacramento State took a accidental connected him, and Wehiwa slashed .376/427/.622 with 14 location runs and earned freshman All-American honors. That play earned him a spot connected a coveted SEC roster astatine Arkansas, and the shortstop was second-team All-SEC successful 2024.

A clip portion distant successful Utah, his small member was getting noticed, too. Kuhio was recruited arsenic a pitcher astatine BYU but coiled up starring the squad with 38 RBIs. He entered the transportation portal aft the season, and Arkansas was the archetypal squad to call.

Wehiwa said the brothers fought erstwhile they were children, but they person matured and are past that. The players got to prime their ain roommates, and the Aloy brothers decided to unrecorded together, some successful Fayetteville and connected the road. Their parents were somewhat amazed by that decision.

"I wasn't truthful overmuch fearful," Napua said, "but I was like, 'Well, however the hellhole is that gonna enactment successful assemblage erstwhile they're surviving together?' Because we lived truthful remote, we ever say, 'If ma and dada aren't around, you guys conscionable person each other, truthful marque definite you instrumentality attraction of each other.'"

Because they're brothers, they tin accidental things to each different that different teammates possibly wouldn't. They tin analyse each others' games and supply feedback. Wehiwa is simply a precise superior person, Jamie said, portion Kuhio is much fun-loving.

They walk astir of their clip together, beryllium it successful practice, connected the roadworthy oregon sportfishing with their teammates. The Razorbacks often speech astir however close-knit this radical is, and immoderate of that was forged astatine section ponds wherever the teammates food greeting and night, usually catching and releasing the fish.

It's a mode to wide their heads, Arkansas infielder Nolan Souza said. They're backstage astir immoderate of their favourite spots.

But the large takeaway for the Aloy household is this: After each of that clip together, and each those years competing against each other, they take to beryllium together, adjacent successful their escaped time.

The Razorbacks look Murray State connected Monday successful a MCWS elimination crippled (2 p.m. ET connected ESPN), and the Aloy household doesn't similar to speech astir the end. Wehiwa is expected to beryllium a first-round prime successful adjacent month's MLB draft, different milestone that is beyond immoderate of their wildest dreams. The Bash Braddahs' story, really, started connected a insignificant league field, years earlier they were born.

Jamie Aloy was a 48th-round prime by the San Francisco Giants successful the 1999 draft. He toiled distant successful their workplace strategy for a mates of years, and, erstwhile the imagination of making it to the large leagues yet seemed excessively far-fetched, helium retired from baseball. He went location to Hawai'i and became a schoolteacher, and helium ne'er pressured his sons to play his athletics oregon unrecorded retired his dreams.

He gets choked up erstwhile helium thinks astir however acold those teenagers person gone since that travel to Omaha six years ago.

"Somebody told us, oregon told me, that you could astir apt marque a movie retired of this," helium said, "no substance however it turns out."

Napua, inactive bushed from the emotionally draining nonaccomplishment to LSU connected Saturday night, laughed.

She said it would beryllium a abbreviated movie.

"No, for real," helium said. "You look astatine this story, it's similar a Cinderella communicative for them personally. For each of us, actually."