StarBulletin.com

Rainbows capture tourney in Oregon


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POSTED: Monday, March 23, 2009

In the process of winning a tournament, the Hawaii baseball team found two arms capable of adding quality depth to the bullpen.

               

     

 

                                       

               

             

             

               

               

             

         

       

Hawaii   

               

               

9

               

               

Portland

               

               

8

               

        NEXT UP

        At Oregon State today
       

 

       

       

Christian Johnson's pinch-hit home run in the top of the 12th inning made the work of freshmen Jesse Moore and Lenny Linsky count for something as Hawaii defeated Portland 9-8 in 12 innings to capture the Rose City Invitational championship yesterday at PGE Park in Portland, Ore.

Johnson's bomb down the right-field line broke an 8-8 tie that had lasted since the seventh inning. It made a winner out of Linsky (1-0), who pitched the final three innings, allowing two hits and two walks, but no runs.

Linsky, making his second appearance of the season, came on in relief of Moore, who went five innings in his collegiate debut. He allowed one run on three hits and walked one while striking out six to keep UH in the game after starter Connor Little was rocked for six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

“;Those guys were outstanding,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said of Linsky and Moore. “;They stepped up and showed they can be part of the mix to be two big parts of our bullpen.”;

Moore was out of action after breaking his thumb fielding a groundball a week before the season opener and Linsky hasn't had many opportunities to pitch with Hawaii's starters eating up the innings.

But with the team in the middle of a stretch of five games in four days, it forced Trapasso to throw his young guns on the mound in key situations, and they responded.

“;They answered the bell,”; Trapasso said. “;I didn't want to bring anybody back on short rest in this cold weather. To win this tournament the way we did with these freshmen coming through, it was big.”;

The two were able to keep a Pilots offense that scored 21 runs in two games against Hawaii in the last three days at bay until Johnson's long ball in the 12th.

He hit for Matt Roquemore with one out and smoked an 0-2 breaking ball down the right-field line for Hawaii's first run since the sixth inning.

“;I was a little disappointed we couldn't score,”; Trapasso said. “;(Johnson) smoked it down the line.”;

Landon Hernandez homered and drove in two runs and Jeff Van Doornum's two-run single highlighted a five-spot in the fourth inning as Hawaii took a 6-3 lead in the fourth after trailing 3-1.

Portland tied it at six in the bottom of the inning with three more runs that were charged to Little. Ryan Davis replaced him with two outs and two runners on and loaded the bases with a walk. Cort Carpenter followed with an RBI single and Davis walked in a run to tie the game at six.

“;(Little) was up in the zone and didn't have a breaking pitch to speak of really, but there's no fear in him,”; Trapasso said. “;We've just got to go to work on his breaking ball.”;

Kolten Wong, Vinnie Catricala and Kevin Macdonald all finished with two hits as Hawaii had 12 in the game.

The Rainbows (13-7) will try to win for the 11th time in 12 games when they close out their road trip today at Oregon State before returning home for a four-game series against Coastal Carolina beginning Thursday.

 

Hawaii 9, Portland 8

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Hawaii ABRHBIPortlandABRHBI
Garcia ss5000Kauppila ss6240
Wong cf5021Armjo 3b5021
Catricala 3b6220Fraser dh4210
Macdonald 1b6120Arbayo pr0000
Hernandez c5212Shaw ph1000
Roquemore rf5001Kraus lf5111
Johnson ph1111Powell 1b2000
Van Doornum dh 4222Carpenter ph4011
Montplaisir lf6111Henricks 2b5012
Morford 2b4011Pearce rf4110 
Little p0000Gale c5220
Davis p0000Queen cf5000
Moore p0000Thompson p0000
Linsky p0000Wakefield p0000
     Miller p0000
     Brynteson p0000
     Varce p0000
Totals479129Totals468135

                                                                                                                                           
Hawaii 010 511 000 001 9 12 2
Portland 201 310 100 000  18 13 0

E—Wong; Catricala. DP—Hawaii 1. LOB—Hawaii 8; Portland 14. 2B—Catricala; Macdonald; Montplaisir; Fraser. HR—Hernandez; Johnson; Kraus. HBP—Hernandez; Kraus. SH—Garcia; Armjo; Queen. SB—Wong; Pearce.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
HawaiiIPHRERBBSO
Little3 2/376623
Davis1/311030
Moore531116
Linsky (W, 1-0)320021 
PortlandIPHRERBBSO
Thompson3 1/356612
Wakefield121100
Miller2 1/331124
Brynteson3 2/310011
Varce (L, 1-4)1 2/311104

Umpires—Kendall Snyder (Plate); Frank Neves (First); Todd Ellis (Third).
T—4:06. A—1,839.