UH pitcher Daven Hermosura gets an out the hard way.
Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

At this point, that would seem unlikely to the casual fan, but UH head coach Les Murakami believes the Rainbows took some tentative steps in the right direction by capturing the 21st annual Bank of America Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament title.

After a disappointing loss to Lewis-Clark State on Friday night, the Rainbows rallied to defeat the No. 1-ranked Warriors of the NAIA, 7-5, in yesterday's championship game before a Rainbow Stadium crowd of 1,862.

An altercation on Friday between senior pitcher Paul Ah Yat and freshman infielder Michael Dartt led to two team meetings.

Murakami and the coaching staff were involved in the first meeting. Then the players conducted one after that in hopes of salvaging the rest of 1996.

It has worked well so far.

Hawaii came out and bombed Oregon State in Saturday's semifinal before beating Lewis-Clark State in yesterday's back-and-forth affair.

UH third baseman Robert Medeiros went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI to secure the tourney's outstanding player award.

Freshman pitcher Troy Yoshimasu appeared in relief of last-second starter Daven Hermosura and Robby Robinson to pick up his first collegiate win.

Fellow freshman Tracy Nakano helped make that happen with a clutch two-out RBI-single in the eighth to put Hawaii ahead to stay.

Hermosura, who pitched a complete-game victory on Thursday, was pressed into duty after Murakami suspended Ah Yat for his part in the one-sided fight.

Dartt couldn't come up with what proved to be the game-winning hit in the 14th inning of Friday's marathon, and was feeling down about it.

A frustrated Ah Yat didn't feel that was the right approach. The brief altercation that ensued resulted in his suspension.

"To be honest, I think this altercation made this team closer," Murakami said after Hawaii won its 10th Easter Tournament championship. "They finally figured out that the enemy is not each other, but the other team.

"I give a lot of credit to our co-captains (Ah Yat and Jaime Ahu). They showed a lot of leadership, and the team responded to the call."

Hawaii won five of seven tournament games to raise its overall record to 22-15. The Rainbows return to WAC action this Friday against lowly Cal State-Sacramento.

The Hornets were swept this past weekend by red-hot Fresno State. They have yet to win a WAC game, although that will likely change on Friday.

Sacramento State holds a commanding 15-9 lead in the bottom of the eighth of a suspended game. Murakami will likely play that game one hour before the regularly scheduled matchup.

He already has used seven of his pitchers - a team record - but will probably stick with Ken Mackenzie when play resumes.

"I could go with Mark Johnson and then let him start the regular game on Friday," Murakami said. "I still haven't decided who our third starter is. We'll just have to wait and see."

Hermosura is definitely under consideration. After missing three months due to an academic problem, Hermosura has now pitched 142/3 innings in three days.

He didn't figure into the decision, but did keep it close enough for Yoshimasu to eventually pick up the win.

Hawaii opened the scoring in the first. Neal Honma and Medeiros got things started on back-to-back singles. Honma scored on a double play by Chris Garnett to make it 1-0.

The Warriors came back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning off Hermosura. Tristan Fike was hit by a pitch. He moved to second on a single to left by Keith Habig.

Both runners came around to score on a booming double into the gap in right by Art Baeza.

The Warriors added to it in the second on a walk, an error by Garnett, an infield hit and a hit batter to make it 3-1.

Hawaii tied it in the fifth on the strength of four singles. Medeiros drove in one run on a single to right and Greg Millichap got the other on a key two-out hit.

The Warriors took back the lead in the bottom of the sixth off a tiring Hermosura. He walked leadoff batter Trent Kies, who went to second on a sacrifice and scored the go-ahead run on a double into the gap in right by Tyler Borup.

But Hawaii came right back in the seventh with the tying run. Medeiros led off with a triple down the right-field line and scored on Garnett's groundout.

"In our minds, we're 2-0 at the start of a new season," Medeiros said. "I really believe the team meetings will help. We talked about our goals and what we wanted to do the rest of the way. We've got a new attitude."

That certainly showed over the latter innings after the Warriors regained the lead.

Fike was hit by Robinson with one out in the seventh. He stole second and scored on a single to left by Baeza off Yoshimasu.

But the Rainbows kept coming back for more. They took the lead for good in the eighth thanks in part to some poor fielding by Lewis-Clark State.

Kenn Wakakuwa opened the inning with a double to center. He scored the tying run on an error by Borup, who didn't field a routine grounder by Kelly Konishi.

Keoni Hansen came in to run for Konishi. He went to second on a groundout and came around to score the go-ahead run on a single to right by Nakano.

"I just wanted to do what I could to help this team win. We believe we can still have a good season," Nakano said.

Hawaii added an insurance run in the ninth on a double into the gap in right by Jody Napuunoa that brought in pinch runner Key Voshell from second.

Oregon State raised its overall record to an impressive 16-6-1. Nittaidai fell to 2-5.

Wright State is now 5-15 for the season. Hilo is 9-28.