Nobody in the Cape Cod Baseball League is swinging the bat better right now than Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy.
While first baseman Michael Anderson — an Arkansas commit as a transfer from Rhode Island — leads the league with a 1.152 OPS (on-base plus slugging) for the Harwich Mariners, Aloy is pacing all CCBL players with seven home runs and 18 runs batted in for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.
Of those seven home runs, Aloy hit five over the past three days. The native of Wailuku, Hawaii, smashed three home runs in one game Thursday to celebrate July 4 in the best way. Currently for the Y-D Red Sox, he's slashing .322/.369/.712 with an OPS of 1.081, 19 total hits and two doubles. He also has three walks, 13 strikeouts and two stolen bases.
Just the 13th player in CCBL history to hit three homers in one game, Aloy is building off a sophomore season in Fayetteville that saw him pick up Second Team All-SEC honors. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound infielder had a slash line of .270/.355/.485 with a team-best 14 home runs and 56 RBI this spring.
"It was a good season," Aloy told HawgBeat. "Plenty of room for improvement for sure, but should be way better this upcoming year."
Aloy transferred in from Sacramento State prior to the 2024 season. He was a D1Baseball First Team Freshman All-American in 2023 after he slashed .376/.427/.662 with 15 doubles, five triples, 14 home runs and 46 RBI for the Hornets.
After playing in front of near capacity crowds on the regular at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville and across the SEC this season, Aloy is playing in front of more familiar crowds up in the Cape.
"I'm pretty used to these kind of crowds from the year before at Sacramento (State)," Aloy said. "It's an adjustment for sure, but it's alright."
Aloy has apparently also made an adjustment at the plate, as he's swinging the bat at an extremely high level right now. According to him, it might be as simple as being more disciplined at the plate.
"Just swinging at my pitches and taking the balls," Aloy said. "That's pretty much all I've got."
After striking out 55 times and walking on just 25 occasions for Arkansas this season, Aloy said his biggest struggle this spring was plate discipline.
"Probably just struggling at the plate," Aloy said. "Just swinging at pretty much anything and just not taking my walks. Swinging at balls and not strikes."
Aloy said Arkansas hitting coach Nate Thompson has encouraged him to trust in himself more and just play more loose. That's working so far this summer.
Since he's been there, Aloy has been able to hang out with fellow Arkansas players in the CCBL. Pitchers such as Ben Bybee, Tate McGuire, Gage Wood and Parker Coil are playing in the Cape this summer, as well as catcher Ryder Helfrick. Aloy said the Razorbacks are ready to improve on a Fayetteville Regional exit in 2024.
"We're definitely hungry for sure," Aloy said. "I stayed like a week or two after the season ended and a couple of guys over there I trained with like Josh Hyneman and Will Edmunson. We just talked about what we did and what we didn't do in the fall that could've helped us prepare even more for the spring."
Note: Will Edmunson entered the transfer portal.
Another thing to look forward to next season for Aloy is the fact that he will get to play with his brother, Kuhio, who is committed to Arkansas as a transfer from BYU.
"We pretty much played together growing up all of our lives," Wehiwa Aloy said. "I can't wait. I'm going to be excited."
Primarily a designated hitter for the Cougars, Kuhio was a Big 12 All-Freshman Team performer with 53 hits, eight home runs and 39 RBI. Kuhio also told HawgBeat there's a chance he could pitch for the Razorbacks.
"I feel like it was his own individual path to come to Arkansas," Wehiwa Aloy said. "He's just been grinding his butt off and he said 'Yeah, it would be nice if I could wear an Arkansas jersey next year.' He earned it for sure."
Both Kuhio and Wehiwa are part of what's shaping up to be a pretty loaded 2025 roster for head coach Dave Van Horn and the Razorbacks. Click here to view the full roster tracker.
