[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Robbie Wilder was congratulated Sunday against Hawaii-Hilo. Wilder has gotten on base in almost half of his at-bats.
UH’s Wilder takes
the leadThe Rainbows' leadoff man is
making coaches glad they beat out
Texas A&M for him
Robbie Wilder derives a lot of satisfaction from being the leadoff man in the Hawaii Rainbow lineup.
It is a role he has played successfully every year since he started playing baseball for West Valley High School in Cottonwood, Calif..
The leadoff man's job is simple: get on base. Wilder does that and it is why the UH coaches recruited him, winning a battle with Texas A&M for his services.
Rainbow baseball
Who: San Francisco at HawaiiWhen: Today and tomorrow, 6:35 p.m.; Sunday, 1:05 p.m.
Where: Murakami Stadium
TV: None
Radio: Sunday only until men's basketball starts, 1420-AM
Tickets: $6 Orange, Blue levels. $5 Red level. $4 Seniors, children age 4-18, UH students in the Red level.
Parking: $3
"I try to see as many pitches as possible and do anything I can to get on base," said Wilder, a transfer from Sierra College. "I like to see four to six pitches. Even if I don't get on base, I can go back to the guy on deck and give him an idea about the spin on the ball, whether the curve is 12-6 or swooping, things like that."
The Hawaii coaches like that approach and Wilder is comfortable with it, although it is a radical change from what his junior college coach expected.
"The requirement in junior college was to swing at the first pitch. That was an unusual approach, but I once had a nine-game hitting streak swinging on the first pitch," Wilder said.
His goal is to have a .500 on-base percentage. Entering tonight's series opener against San Francisco, Wilder's on-base percentage of .471 is second best on the team.
Interestingly enough, he is 0-for-8 with three walks as the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning. The rest of the game he is 13-for-32 (.406) with five walks and three hit-by-pitches.
Wilder struck out in his first at-bat for UH against Texas, but has fanned just once since. Five of his 13 hits have come with two strikes.
"Robbie is your prototype leadoff hitter. He can bunt, really run and he is a solid hitter not afraid to hit with two strikes," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "He tries to work walks. He is plus-nine in strikeouts (two) to walks (eight) and hit-by-pitch (three). An on-base percentage of .471 is big-time. Basically, he is on base one out of every two times."
Wilder went to Santa Clara for a year, but redshirted after surgery on his left shoulder. The fall of his sophomore year, the Santa Clara coaches told him he would never play baseball for the Broncos, and he transferred to Sierra that spring.
"I went on the Internet at Santa Clara looking for schools to play for and told my parents I was going to UH," Wilder said. "I arrived at Sierra three weeks before our first game and didn't know Coach (Rob) Wilson had coached with Coach (Chad) Konishi. That connection worked out perfectly."
Wilder earned first-team All-Bay Valley Conference honors and was named a junior college All-American last year at Sierra.
Wilson wanted Wilder to return for a second season, but the sophomore center fielder had fulfilled his academic requirements and wanted to get back to Division I baseball. A&M made him a good offer, but he felt the Rainbow coaching staff and the situation here was a better fit.
"This is an up-and-coming program and I wanted to be a part of that," Wilder said. "When I came on my visit, they treated me so well, I knew this was the place. And I definitely love the warm weather."
Wilder says if he had spent as much time perfecting his soccer talents as he did baseball talents he might have gone to college on a soccer scholarship. A left-footed striker, he played four years of varsity in high school and was the Northern Athletic League MVP his senior year. He also earned the same honor in baseball.
"That was my goal going into both seasons. I knew I had a chance, but felt better about soccer because that was my passion and I led the league in scoring," Wilder said. "Baseball was the tough one because there are a lot of good players up there. It was sweet getting both of them."
Baseball players and superstitions go together, and Wilder is no exception.
He never spits in the outfield because he noticed in high school that when he did, the other team scored a lot of runs. Since the 'Bows started their seven-game winning streak in which he has hit safely in each one, he has worn his pants down covering the socks and listens to two songs by Dispatch before very game.
When he goes to the plate, he bends down, grabs some dirt and reminds himself to go out and get dirty and have fun. He sweeps his back foot toward the front of the batters' box to remind himself to keep everything going forward. If he has a bad at-bat, he uses the other foot to sweep backward to erase everything so he can start over.
"I once wore a sock inside out, but didn't notice it until after the game when I went 4-for-4. I wore it inside out after that," Wilder said.
Whatever it takes to get on base, Wilder does it.
Probable starting pitchers
Notes: The Rainbows and Dons have played 13 games. UH leads the series 8-5. ... In the last meeting, the Rainbows beat USF 4-1 to begin their first road trip a year ago. ... Andrew Sansaver, who was 5-for-33 to start the season, was 7-for-10 with a double, four runs batted in and three runs scored against UH-Hilo. ... Matt Inouye leads the 'Bows in slugging percentage (.707) and on-base percentage (.538).
Hawaii (8-5) W-L ERA K RHP Ricky Bauer (Jr.) 3-1 2.42 22 RHP Stephen Bryant (Sr.) 1-0 2.21 17 RHP Clary Carlsen (Sr.) 2-2 3.70 10 San Francisco (3-6) W-L ERA K RHP Kevin Rose (Sr.) 1-1 3.86 17 RHP Derek Tate (Jr.) 0-1 2.65 12 RHP T.J. Franco (Jr.) 1-1 5.65 9
