Thursday, February 21, 2002
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Homecoming for mainland student-athletes competing against Hawaii teams is special. It gives players like Brigham Young juniors Doug Jackson and Kainoa Obrey a chance to perform for family and friends, who otherwise might not get to see them compete. Cougars have 3 from Hawaii
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comBoth played their prep baseball for Dean Yonamine at Iolani before heading to Utah to join the collegiate ranks. Obrey made an immediate impact as a freshman, while Jackson bided his time for a year before seizing an opportunity last season.
Obrey compiled a .342 batting average as a freshman and improved to .381 last year. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound third baseman started all 59 games for the Cougars as a sophomore. He hit 13 home runs, knocked in 56 runs and was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference pick.
That performance led to his being named a third-team, All-American preseason selection by Collegiate Baseball this year. He is one of BYU's captains, but has been hampered by an injury this season.
"Kainoa has a ruptured disc and it's been one of our downfalls so far this season," said BYU assistant coach David "Boy" Eldredge. "He is brave enough to play when he can, but after the Hawaii trip, we're going to have to make a decision about whether he needs rest or surgery."
Obrey suffered the injury in November and underwent therapy. There was little improvement by January, when practice started and more tests found the injury to be more serious than originally thought.
When he is healthy, Obrey has the ability to hit to all fields with power. He is a very complete hitter, according to Eldredge. An opposing pitcher might make Obrey look foolish on one outside pitch, but make a mistake, and he's strong enough to put his bat on the ball and deposit it outside the park.
Jackson, whose two older brothers played for Hawaii-Hilo, hit .274 as a part-time player his freshman year, then blossomed last year, batting .370 while starting 50 of the 54 games he appeared in.
"He's not a big kid (5-7, 155 pounds). He runs well and competes well," said Eldredge. "We brought him in thinking in a couple of years he might be able to help us. But, he got his opportunity last year when another outfielder slumped and he got the job done."
Jackson is off to a .291 start this season and is perfect in five stolen-base attempts. He has switched from left field to center and is playing with the same confidence he developed a year ago.
Both enjoyed all-star summers playing for the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League in 2001. Jackson was named to the league's all-star team. Obrey was the 10th player award winner for contributing mostly while not playing a regular position the majority of the season.
Eldredge played for BYU from 1979 to 1983. He was head coach at Hawaii Pacific for five years, compiling a 125-79-1 record. His 1991 Sea Warriors finished fourth in the NAIA World Series.
Eldredge returned to the mainland in 1996 to become an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Loyola Marymount for three seasons prior to returning to his alma mater.
As a catcher for the Cougars, Eldredge caught both of Peter Kendrick's no-hitters in 1981, was behind the plate when Scott Nielsen pitched his record-setting 26th consecutive victory and caught future major leaguer Rick Aguilera.
Eldredge captained the 1983 BYU squad that included Wally Joyner and Cory Snyder.
When: Today and tomorrow, 6:35 p.m.; Saturday, 12:05 p.m. Gameday
Where: Murakami Stadium
TV: Saturday's game live, KFVE, Channel 5
Radio: Friday and Saturday live, KCCN, 1420-AM
Internet: kccn1420am.com
Tickets: $6 Orange, Blue levels. $5 Red level. $4 Seniors, students age 4-18, UH students in the Red level.
Parking: $3
Probable starting pitchers
Hawaii (5-5) W-L ERA K RHP Bryan Lee (Jr.) 2-0 2.28 12 LHP Aaron Pribble (Sr.) 1-0 2.21 18 RHP Chris George (Jr.) 1-0 9.00 4 Brigham Young (3-10) W-L ERA K LHP Jeff Stone (Sr.) 0-2 8.57 11 RHP Ryan Adams (Sr.) 0-2 5.59 11 RHP Scott Koffman (So.) 1-2 6.75 11 Notes: The Rainbows and Cougars have played 71 games, with UH holding a 41-28-2 edge. ... The teams last met in March 1999 with UH taking two out of three games. ... Matt Carson is the leading BYU hitter with a .438 average. The junior outfielder has four doubles, a triple, two home runs and a team-leading 13 runs batted in. ... BYU coach Vance Law played 10 years in the major leagues. ...The exhibition game between the Rainbows and Matsusaka scheduled for March 12 has been canceled. The Japanese team has decided not to travel to the United States.