By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Kamehameha's Dane Sardinha is regarded by scouts
as the top catching prospect in America.

Not since a Kaiser High lefty named Sid Fernandez had a 94 mph fastball to show the scouts in 1981 has anyone from here been pegged to go in the first three rounds of June's amateur draft.

That's because Dane Sardinha, a 6-foot, 200-pound Kamehameha senior, is a catcher with all the tools to become a major league player within a few years.

"He has good soft hands. He has a quick release. He has a good, short swing. He has almost everything," said Wally Komatsubara, who scouts Hawaii and the Pacific Rim for the Boston Red Sox.

"He also has speed more than adequate for a catcher," Komatsubara said.

He'd love to see Sardinha's quick bat park a fastball in the netting over the left field wall in Fenway Park some day. But Komatsubara, who knows great catching prospects are always at a premium in the draft, understands there are a lot of clubs coveting Sardinha.

When it became clear this winter that his 1997 debut behind the plate would be delayed by minor injuries he suffered in the off-season to his wrist and shoulder, the phone rang off the hook at the home of Kamehameha's head coach, Vern Ramie.

"They'd been calling before about schedules, but when they knew Dane was hurt, I got four or five calls daily from scouts," Ramie said.

The Major League Scouting Bureau sent faxes to clubs about Sardinha's injury. That has caused some scouts to delay their trips to the islands.

Until the ILH season opens March 22, Sardinha is at first base so his shoulder can heal.

Sardinha hurt his wrist when he fell on it playing touch football last November. His subsequent attempts to throw the baseball with the sore wrist led to a shoulder strain.

But the prognosis is he'll be fine.

"He's the first position player from here to receive so much attention," Komatsubara said. He said he thinks the level of interest is even greater than it was for Lenn Sakata or Scott Craven.

"Right about midseason, you're going to see the 'big guys' come in to look," Komatsubara said. "When the cross-checkers and the scouting directors arrive, that's going to be your clue. Then you know they're thinking about Sardinha as a No. 1 or No. 2 draft pick."

He said the Red Sox's cross-checker is due here to watch Sardinha very soon.

Ron Hopkins, cross-checker for the Oakland A's, also has said he'll come for a look.

Gil Kubski, a regional scout for the Baltimore Orioles, has watched Sardinha for two seasons.

"When you find a young catching prospect like him who can swing the bat, he has a chance to go relatively high on the first day of the draft," Kubski said.

"He has size, strength, he receives the ball real well and his ability to use the whole field is something I like. But I do think he's trying to pull the ball a little too much now to show the scouts he has power."

Sardinha tied the Interscholastic League of Honolulu home run record (eight) as a sophomore. He had seven last season and said he wants to set a record for round-trippers this season.

"But I just have to try to play my game," said Sardinha. "If I get down on myself, I don't do as well."

Sardinha has been calling his own pitches since the fifth game of his freshman season.

"Behind the plate, he takes control of the game," Ramie said. "Each year, his instincts have gotten better. He doesn't miss much out on the field."

Sardinha batted .313 for the USA Baseball Junior Team that won the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships last summer in Cuba.

The highlight of his tour with the team was a fourth-inning three-run homer off a changeup that broke a scoreless tie with South Korea in the medal game. The USA went on to win, 5-2, and Sardinha threw out two base runners.

"Trying to throw out runners is the best part of playing baseball," Sardinha said.

He had 12 assists as a sophomore, but since then runners have been less inclined to challenge him.

Sardinha also has proven he can catch big-league velocity. He handled the 92-to-96 mph fastball deliveries of Matt White, the San Francisco Giants' 1996 first-round draft pick, while with the national team.

He batted .446 as a junior and was named the ILH player of the year in 1995 with a .515 average.

USA Today considers him the top prep catcher in the country and Baseball America ranked Sardinha fifth on its preseason All-American list.

Shortstop Keoni DeRenne of state champion Iolani and first baseman Scooter Martines of Punahou also were mentioned by that publication as third-team selections. Both could be drafted in lower rounds, according to scouts interviewed.

Sardinha also has college scholarship options. He has whittled his offers to Pepperdine and Miami.