Friday, May 25, 2001
[ WAHINE SOFTBALL ]
2001 Wahine The way the University of Hawaii softball team ended its year resembled the track record for many a UH athletic teams playing away from home.
offered glimpse
of bright future
UH softball team boasts strong
incoming freshman class and
solid group of returnees
for 2002
By Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinIt looked like a choke.
Going 0-2 and barbecue in the NCAA Regionals last week wasn't supposed to happen to these Wahine. It wasn't supposed to matter whether they played in Tucson, Ariz., or on the moon.
Hawaii, which finished 46-18 overall, had put together a 17-6 road record -- including the program's first victories ever at perennial Western Athletic Conference power Fresno State.
And the Wahine began their season with a 6-3 road trip in Florida, playing against decent competition.
With a balanced offense and three capable pitchers, Hawaii rolled through the WAC, finishing ahead of FSU in wins and losses, but behind in percentage points. UH won its last 12 games in a row prior to the regionals.
Then, Hawaii's dreams died in the desert with 11 stranded runners in a 4-2 loss to Texas Tech. That was after the Wahine fell to Southwest Texas State, 2-1, in another game of missed opportunities.
"It just didn't happen," Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said. "The first day we just couldn't hit the ball. I'm not sure what happened, but our bats were really behind. I was alarmed the day before, when they were having trouble hitting me in batting practice."
A week off between the end of the regular season and start of the regionals appeared to be a boon. But it might have been part of UH's undoing. Coolen said Hawaii's lack of sharpness could have been due to the time off and the heat -- 100 degrees and 10 percent humidity -- in Tucson.
A bright spot for the Wahine was freshman Stacy Porter going 4-for-4 with a homer and being named to the All-Regional team. The first baseman is among several power hitters who give UH hope for next season.
Porter (6 homers), freshman third baseman/designated hitter April Crowell (5) and sophomore shortstop Kate Judd (8) made Hawaii's lineup hard to pitch around, and should continue to do so for two more years. Judd was the WAC Player of the Year.
Sparkplug Natalie Gonzales, an all-region selection at second base, returns as a senior to top the lineup again. She batted .336.
Of the four seniors Hawaii loses (Tyree Woodruff, Kristin Anderson, Desiree Duran and Janelle Gonzales), left-hander Duran will be the hardest to replace. She was the WAC Pitcher of the Year after putting together a 17-4 season.
But freshman fireballer Felicity Witt returns after going 22-10. The right-hander hurt her ribcage lifting weights three weeks ago, limiting her contributions in the regional.
Coolen is excited about three hard-throwing right-handers who join Witt next season. He said Melissa Coogan (West Hills, Calif.), Paula Blanning (Australia) and Shannon Tabion (Baldwin High, Maui) are all capable of making an immediate impact from the circle -- and if not, they are athletic enough to contribute from other positions.
The ones who don't pitch right away will battle for playing time with other returning players like third baseman Trisha Ramos, outfielder/first baseman Stacie Hirano, outfielder/pitcher Sheri Oronoz, catcher Michelle Mumaw and catcher Jennifer Tandarich. All played in at least 35 games last season.
"We have a real nice (group) coming back with some impact players coming in," Coolen said.
Final Statistics University of Hawaii
Wahine Softball
Record: 46-18 (Home: 20-5; Away: 17-6; Neutral: 9-7; WAC: 16-4)
Player Avg. GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI Slug. BB HBP SO OB% SF SH SB-ATT Fld% Natalie Gonzales .336 64-64 217 30 73 4 3 1 22 .396 7 5 19 .370 1 6 10-11 .962 Michelle Mumaw 324 35-33 34 2 11 0 0 0 3 .324 1 2 8 .378 0 0 0-0 .978 Stacey Porter 320 55-51 153 31 49 15 1 6 26 .549 17 1 36 .390 1 0 2-2 .989 Tyree Woodruff 312 63-63 170 16 53 3 0 0 17 .329 11 2 18 .361 0 18 7-8 1.000 April Crowell 296 63-62 199 13 59 11 0 5 25 .427 5 1 13 .317 0 2 0-1 .967 Sheri Oronoz 292 35-19 72 6 21 2 0 2 9 .403 0 1 16 .297 1 3 1-2 .962 Stacie Hirano 281 58-52 171 14 48 3 1 0 18 .310 5 1 8 .302 2 5 1-1 .970 Trisha Ramos .280 62-62 186 14 52 6 1 2 23 .355 9 4 18 .325 1 5 0-1 .911 Kate Judd 278 64-64 187 32 52 14 0 8 31 .481 19 2 17 .346 3 1 2-2 .908 Jennifer Tandarich .253 40-37 95 11 24 5 0 0 6 .305 9 1 18 .324 0 2 3-3 .991 Kristin Anderson .249 64-64 177 24 44 8 0 2 19 .328 7 5 21 .295 1 6 5-6 .977 Justina Kahaku .231 23-5 13 13 3 0 0 0 1 .231 0 0 2 .231 0 0 0-0 1.000 Janelle Gonzales .200 4-3 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 .200 0 0 0 .200 0 1 0-0 1.000 Felicity Witt 182 5-4 11 1 2 1 0 0 0 .273 0 0 6 .182 0 1 0-0 .912 Desiree Duran 167 18-15 36 1 6 2 0 0 3 .222 3 0 9 .231 0 2 0-0 1.000 Kea Yamaguchi 167 15-0 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 .167 0 0 1 .167 0 0 0-0 1.000 Marie Jackson 000 34-2 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 .000 4 0 4 .308 0 0 2-3 1.000 Ashley Tokumine 000 29-0 3 10 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2-3 1.000 Desiree Vincent .000 3-0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 2 .333 0 0 0-0 .000 Summer Nagareda .000 9-0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1-1 .000 Kimi Kaneshiro .000 27-0 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1-1 .000 Totals .286 64-64 1746 239 499 74 6 26 204 .380 97 26 216 .331 10 52 37-45 .966 Opponents .202 64-64 1552 117 314 53 6 20 100 .283 136 17 344 .273 3 58 40-60 .949 LOB--Team (424); Opponents (356). DPs turned--Team (12); Opponents (10). CI--Team (1), Mumaw 1. Picked off--Jackson 1.
Pitcher ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO HR Opp. Avg WP HBP BK Felicity Witt 1.25 22-10 35 29 26 10 0 20213 147 51 36 57 168 7 .202 12 10 1 Desiree Duran 1.40 17-5 29 25 16 9 1 160.1 117 37 32 47 126 9 .205 7 3 0 Janelle Gonzales 1.67 5-2 12 7 5 2 0 54.1 33 18 13 27 42 4 .176 2 3 0 Sheri Oronoz 4.12 2-1 5 3 1 1 0 17.0 18 11 10 5 6 0 .265 2 1 0 Totals 1.47 46-18 64 64 51 23 1 434.0 315 117 91 136 342 20 .203 23 17 1 Opponents 2.99 18-46 64 64 32 9 5 426.0 498 239 182 97 217 26 .285 29 24 3 PB--Team (12), Mumaw 6, Tandarich 5, Yamaguchi 1; Opponents (9). SBA/ATT--Mumaw (21-34), Duran (17-27), Tandarich (16-24), Witt (16-22), J. Gonzales (4-7), Oronoz (3-4), Crowell (1-1).
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
