Akeo Jr. enters his seventh season as an assistant coach for the Sharks. He serves as the hitting coach as well as the coach for the catchers. Since “Coach Les” has been in the HPU dugout as a coach, the Sharks have a record of 186-111 (.626), including the 2010 season when they won a program-high 39 games.
He made the often difficult transition from all-star player to impact coach. He is one of two baseball players to be elected to the HPU Hall of Fame (2013).
Akeo Jr. is a name that is synonymous with HPU baseball. When then Head Coach Pat Kuniyoshi started baseball at HPC in 1983, Akeo Jr. was his cornerstone recruit. He was a two-time All-American infielder who terrorized District 29 and District 2 in the mid-1980s. The Honolulu product won District 2 MVP and was an honorable mention All-American in 1985 and then in 1986 he was District 29 MVP and a second-team All-American.
Akeo Jr.'s name saturates the record book. He still holds the records for most games played in a season when he suited up 54 times in 1985. He is also the all-time leader in career triples with 12. Up until recently, Akeo Jr. also had the career records for runs, hits, walks, and games played. Ironically, it was Danny Lee, Blake Amaral, and Kale Sumner -players who Akeo Jr. coached- who have eclipsed his numbers. Overall, Akeo Jr. is in the top six all-time in 12 statistical categories.
Akeo Jr. graduated from HPU, then Hawai‘i Pacific College, with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (‘86). Akeo is a 1980 graduate of Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu where he played his high school ball.
Akeo Jr. has been instrumental in developing Hawai‘i’s local talent. He has coached at Radford High School, Moanalua High School, and most recently Kamehameha Schools in 1990.
He is married to Cherie Akeo, and has five children, Thomas (31), Lester III (24), Lesli (22), Kamalani (16), and Lexis (11). He has been employed for the last 26 years by the Department of the Army.
