Thursday, February 5, 1998
Rainbows meets
By Al Chase
struggling Vulcans
Star-BulletinUniversity of Hawaii at Hilo head baseball coach Joey Estrella wanted his Vulcans to get off to a fast start this season despite a lack of overall experience. It did not happen.
The Vulcans (1-12) have stumbled out of the gate and were overmatched in their most recent series against highly regarded Arizona State. The Sun Devils limited UHH to five runs in five games while scoring 50.
On paper, the University of Hawaii Rainbows (8-1) appear to be prohibitive favorites in the annual series that will be played on three islands this weekend.
Although the Rainbows hold a 75-12 advantage in the series, the record is even (4-4) over the past three seasons.
"Hilo always plays exceptionally hard against us whether they have exceptional talent or not," UH coach Les Murakami said.
"We've kind of held our own recently, but I'm not sure about this year," Estrella said. "It's exciting to play the Rainbows and we're looking forward to the series."
Estrella has made several shifts in his lineup since the season opened. Most have been in the infield. Shortstop Scott Wallis moved to third base, then to second. Second baseman Davey Meguro shifted to short. Third baseman Tony Jackson went to first, then back to third.
"We're trying to find the right combination. It has to come," Estrella said. "We're still a far way away from where we think we should be as a team."
The Vulcans will start left-hander Thomas Ford (0-2, 3.95 ERA) tomorrow night at Rainbow Stadium; right-hander Tyler Yates (0-1, 9.28) Saturday at Kauai's Hanapepe Ball Park, and either right-hander Kaholo Rickard (0-1, 5.79) or left-hander Russell Ricafort (0-2, 6.52) or freshman Ben Siff (0-2, 7.94) Sunday at Kona's Simmon's Field.
Outfielders Shaye Miura (.360) and Adam Cancellieri (.317) and catcher Clinton Vaughan (.296) are the top three UHH hitters.
However, the Vulcans are hitting just .226 while their opponents are batting .313. Much of this difference is due to the quality Arizona State pitching staff which allowed just 17 UHH hits in five games.
Randon Ho (2-0, 4.41), Dusty Bergman (2-0, 4.58) and Troy Yoshimasu (1-0, 3.65) will start on the mound for the Rainbows.
Yoshimasu, who played in the outfield and hit well with excellent speed last summer, will stick to pitching according to assistant coach Carl Furutani. Yoshimasu missed his start against UCLA after pulling a tendon in his left shoulder taking batting practice.
Murakami does not plan any lineup changes. If there are changes, they will be dictated by the flu.
Catcher Jeremy Stegmaier, outfielder Sean Takamori and reliever Nathaniel Watterson had the flu last week. Stegmaier and Takamori are back but Watterson is still recovering. Now second baseman Rory Pico and pitcher Ken Mackenzie have the bug.
Lars Hansen continues to lead the UH regulars with a .423 average, followed by Matt Wheeler at .406, Jamie Aloy at .391 and Darren Blakely at .382.
NUMBERS: The Rainbows are off to their best start since 1983 when they won 17 of their first 18 games . . . Blakely is 11-for-12 in stolen base attempts . . . Wheeler has been hit by a pitch four times in nine games . . . Reliever Ian Jones has yet to allow an earned run in 91/3 innings.
Rainbow baseball
Tomorrow: Hawaii-Hilo vs. Hawaii, 6:05 p.m., at Rainbow Stadium.
Rainbow Men Baseball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
