[ DIVISION II ]
COURTESY HAWAII-HILO
Second baseman Claresa Asuncion suffered from culture shock when she first arrived at Hawaii-Hilo.
Hilo second baseman Claresa Asuncion does all the little things, the things that nobody notices. Beyond the box
Asuncion's defensive contributions
Division II stats
won't show up on the box scoreBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comLuckily for her, Hilo coach Callen Perreira goes deeper than the box score when looking for talent.
"I remember people told me that she was a solid defensive ballplayer and could hit behind a runner," Perreira said. "That is rare, and usually has to be taught."
Asuncion, a senior, played travel ball like most of today's collegiate stars, but she wasn't in it to compile the gaudy numbers that collegiate coaches drool over. She was in it for the same reason she is in the collegiate game -- to win.
"I hate losing," Asuncion said. "But it happens sometimes. I like when we are behind and have to come back; we have done that a couple of times this year and that is the ultimate."
Asuncion hit second on the travel teams, sacrificing herself to get a teammate to second base and occasionally executing the hit-and-run to get her to third. It's not exactly the way to thrill college coaches, even though every coach needs such a player.
Although defense and the mental game were Asuncion's obvious strengths, she put up good numbers at Charter Oak High School in West Covina, Calif., hitting .376 and playing flawless defense. Her defensive skills translated directly to the college game, but she hit only .193 in her freshman year, a stat she mostly attributes to culture shock.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Claresa Asuncion is second baseman for Hawaii-Hilo.Asuncion wanted to play collegiate softball in Hawaii ever since she was 12 years old because that is where her parents called home. But Hawaii is a lot different in the travel brochures and the imagination of a young girl.
"As a freshman I didn't like it in Hawaii," Asuncion said. "I always wanted to come here, but it was so different. With nothing to do I became depressed. It really affected my game."
Asuncion was so disenchanted with her decision that she wanted to return home and pave her road toward a job in law enforcement from there. But her mother, who worked two jobs but rarely missed one of her daughter's games, would not let her. As much as Theresa Asuncion wanted to see her daughter play ball again, there was no way she was going to allow her to take the first step toward being a quitter.
Claresa Asuncion had her share of battles with Perreira, and those battles forced her to grow into a responsible person and the softball player she always knew she was. She moved from shortstop to second base in her freshman year and improved her batting average to .265 in her sophomore year and .271 as a junior. She is hitting .302 this year through 37 games.
"I have a little more confidence," Asuncion said. "Hitting is much easier now that I am older and know more about the game."
Also factoring into her improvement at the plate is coming to terms with and learning to love her surroundings. She has spent the past two summers here rather than returning to California. She has used the opportunity to understand her family's background and meet relatives she never knew she had.
"Hilo kind of grows on you. I absolutely love it now," Asuncion said. "It's so great. Getting to know them has been so awesome. I have so much family back home and now I have a whole new group."
As much as Asuncion has learned to love Hawaii, her team's fate might be sealed in New Mexico. The Vulcans travel to Silver City, N.M., next week to settle the Pacific West Conference championship and possibly win a spot in the regional. Hilo trails the Mustangs by one game and will take them on four times.
Asuncion believes that the teams are comparable in talent, but the Vulcans have the edge off the field. Whenever a team is doing well, players and coaches talk about chemistry keeping it all together. The Vulcans are not playing nearly as well as they expected at the beginning of the season, but Asuncion still brings up the word when describing her mates.
"Everyone gets along on this team, there is so much chemistry, it's unbelievable," Asuncion said. "When someone makes an error, we all really feel like we all made an error instead of singling one person out. When you get a group of girls together, that is not usual, at least on the teams I've been on."
She won the leadoff job last week after hitting second all season, putting the small ball she excels in aside in favor of getting on base and expecting Diana Kim and Leinani Hashida to move her around the bases. Along with the new role comes a new responsibility, starting off each of the four games right.
"A lot of it starts with one hit; I absolutely believe that hitting is contagious." Asuncion said. "But I only lead off once each game, everybody is going to have to hit."
Year-by-year statistics for Hawaii-Hilo senior Claresa Asuncion By the numbers
Year G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG 2003 37 116 21 35 3 1 0 10 0 9 9 .302 2002 51 155 18 42 6 1 0 16 3 10 4 .271 2001 45 132 23 35 3 2 0 19 1 12 7 .265 2000 44 140 15 27 2 3 0 12 4 8 12 .193 Totals 177 543 77 139 14 7 0 57 8 39 32 .255
BACK TO TOP |
>> Kristin Fujii, Hawaii Pacific softball: The senior from Roosevelt High School is not giving up even though her team is down in the standings, hitting safely in four of five at-bats and driving in five runs over two games last week. [ Top Performers ]
>> Peter Madarassy, Brigham Young-Hawaii tennis: The junior from Balaton, Hungary, helped the Seasiders take the PacWest championship from Hawaii Pacific, beating Matey Pampulov 7-5, 6-3 in the championship. After battling injuries and sitting out the first match of the tournament, Madarassy won all three of his matches and didn't relinquish a set.
TODAY [ SCOREBOARD ]
Coming up
Softball: Hawaii-Hilo vs. Biola
Softball:Hawaii Pacific vs. Azusa Pacific
Baseball: Hawaii Pacific at CSU Dominguez Hills
TOMORROW
Softball: Chaminade vs. Biola
Baseball: Hawaii Pacific at CSU Dominguez Hills
MONDAY
Softball: Hawaii-Hilo at Western New Mexico
Softball: Hawaii Pacific vs. Biola
Baseball: Hawaii Pacific at Cal Poly Pomona
TUESDAY
Softball: Hawaii-Hilo at Western New Mexico
Baseball: Hawaii Pacific at Cal Poly Pomona
FRIDAY
Softball: Hawaii-Hilo at MSU-Billings
Softball: Western New Mexico at Mountain Dew Classic (Bakersfield, Calif.)
Softball
PacWest Overall W L Ptc. W L Ptc. Western New Mexico 11 1 .917 41 6 .872 Hawaii-Hilo 10 2 .833 26 13 .676 Brigham Young-Hawaii 8 10 .444 20 24 .455 Hawaii Pacific 6 8 .429 25 19 .568 Chaminade 4 12 .250 10 29 .256 Montana St.-Billings 3 9 .250 10 15 .400 Batting leaders
BATTING average
G Avg AB R H RBI Shellie Broyles, WNM 47 .455 154 45 70 45 Tiffany Mondhink, WNM 47 .429 147 23 63 50 Nancy Vega, Hilo 37 .368 106 18 39 22 Holly Garcia, HPU 43 .347 121 20 42 29 Leinani Hashida, Hilo 37 .342 120 20 41 12 Kim Fukumoto, HPU 40 .327 113 13 37 13 Lori Browning, WNMU 39 .327 110 26 36 21 Jessica Garcia, WNMU 47 .324 136 35 44 25 HITS
Shellie Broyles, WNMU 70 Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU 63 Jessica Garcia, WNMU 44 Holly Garcia, HPU 42 2 tied with 41 hits
RUNS SCORED
Shellie Broyles, WNMU 45 Jessica Garcia, WNMU 35 Bethany Harris, WNMU 32 Brandy Choy Foo, HPU 28 Lori Browning, WNMU 26 RUNS BATTED IN
Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU 50 Shellie Broyles,WNMU 45 Holly Garcia, HPU 29 Debbie Yescas, WNMU 27 2 tied with 26 RBIs
DOUBLES
Shellie Broyles, WNMU 21 Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU 15 Jessica Garcia,WNMU 11 Holly Garcia, HPU 11 Kristin Fujii, HPU 10 HOME RUNS
Shellie Broyles,WNMU 8 Pua Reis, Chaminade 5 Debbie Yescas, WNMU 5 3 tied with 4 home runs
TOTAL BASES
Shellie Broyles, WNMU 117 Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU 91 Holly Garcia, HPU 62 Jessica Garcia,WNMU 60 Debbie Yescas, WNMU 59 STOLEN BASES
Danielle Harmon, WNMU 12-14 Brandy Choy Foo, HPU 11-11 Rachel Stahle, WNMU 7-8 Lori Browning, WNMU 7-10 Anuhea Diamond, HPU 6-11 Individual pitching
Earned run average
Minimum 10 IP App ERA W-L Sv IP Angela Slaugh, WNMU 27 0.46 23-3 1 165.2 Leo Sing Chow, Hilo 16 0.54 13-2 0 91.0 Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU 22 1.12 18-2 0 131.2 Sarah Steele, Hilo 10 1.39 2-3 0 40.1 Tara Martinez, Hilo 11 1.56 5-0 1 45.0 Malia Sullivan, HPU 21 2.08 10-7 0 118.0 Joey Ehnes, MSUB 9 2.13 5-3 0 49.1 Jessica Parra, HPU 22 2.28 8-7 0 107.1 Lisa Hansen, BYUH 22 2.47 7-13 0 127.1 Kristine Kahoalii, Hilo 16 2.48 5-7 0 76.1 Mallory Anderson, HPU 15 2.56 5-5 0 76.2 Echo Hatch, BYUH 18 2.62 9-3 0 90.2 Megan McCrae, MSUB 15 2.68 5-9 0 86.1 Crystal Avila, WNMU 6 3.32 0-1 0 12.2 D. Wittekind, Chaminade 22 3.73 7-13 0 124.0 Opposing batting average
Angela Slaugh, WNMU .137 Leo Sing Chow, Hilo .154 Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU .188 Megan McCrae, MSUB .227 Sarah Steele, Hilo .237 Tara Martinez, Hilo .237 Jessica Parra, HPU .246 Lisa Hansen, BYUH .249 Malia Sullivan, HPU .252 Kristine Kahoalii, Hilo .256 Strikeouts
Angela Slaugh, WNMU 244 Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU 134 Megan McCrae, MSUB 64 Leo Sing Chow, Hilo 63 Kristine Kahoalii, Hilo 43 Lisa Hansen, BYUH 43 Donnell Wittekind, Chaminade 42 Joey Ehnes, MSUB 41 Echo Hatch, BYUH 39 Malia Sullivan, HPU 37 Wins
Angela Slaugh, WNMU 23 Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU 18 Leo Sing Chow, Hilo 13 Malia Sullivan, HPU 10 Echo Hatch, BYUH 9 Jessica Parra, HPU 8 Donnell Wittekind, Chaminade 7 Lisa Hansen, BYUH 7 5 tied at 5
Appearances
Angela Slaugh, WNMU 27 Tiffany Mondhink, WNMU 22 Donnell Wittekind, Chaminade 22 Lisa Hansen, BYUH 22 Jessica Parra, HPU 22 Malia Sullivan, HPU 21 Loihi McKeague, Chaminade 20 Echo Hatch, BYUH 18
