Thursday, March 25, 1999
’Bows all alone in
By Al Chase
Easter Tournament lead
Star-BulletinTroy Yoshimasu and Corey Miller gave themselves conservative passing grades last night, but the questions they answered should provided some relief for Hawaii's pitching staff.
Rah-Miel Mitchell and Lane Nogawa continued to play in a manner that makes it difficult for UH head coach Les Murakami to not keep them in the lineup.
They all played a part in the Rainbows' 10-5 victory over the Nittaidai Eagles at Rainbow Stadium before 1,895 fans, the largest turnout so far in the Easter Baseball Tournament.
The win won't be on Hawaii's official record for the season, but it guarantees the Rainbows (19-10 overall) a spot in one of Saturday's semifinal-round games.
"That's the best I've seen Troy pitch all season. It's because he's healthy," Murakami said. "He had pop and a breaking pitch.
"I wanted Miller to throw more strikes, but I think he'll do that once he's in pitching shape."
Miller, clocked at 88-92 mph (fastball), 82 (slider) and 80 (change-up), rated his performance a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10.
"Once I feel confident with the off-speed pitches and can get them over, it'll be an 8 or 9," said Miller, who will return to shortstop when his sprained left ankle allows normal range of movement.
He felt a twinge just once, when he went after a high chopper over mound, but the ankle felt fine once the adrenaline kicked in.
"It's been awhile, but the one-on-one battle is nice to have again," said the junior right-hander, who was the No. 1 starter for Westmont College two seasons ago. Miller and Wakon Childers now share the closer role.
Yoshimasu also gave himself a 6 and experienced no problems with his left hamstring.
"I had my stuff, but I'm a better pitcher. I should have thrown more strikes," he said.
Mitchell had three hits and narrowly missed a fourth when Nittaidai third baseman Shigeru Yamasaki speared his screaming liner in the seventh inning.
"He's coming along rapidly. He listens and he's way ahead of Darren Blakely (last year's UH center fielder) at this time," Murakami said. "If you produce, you play. I play no favorites."
Nogawa tripled in two runs in the five-run sixth. He provides depth at three infield positions and, when Miller returns to short, Murakami is considering playing Nogawa at third to spell Matt Wheeler, who is fighting a terrible hitting slump.
Murakami has set his starting rotation for the rest of the tournament. Dusty Bergman faces Hawaii-Hilo tonight and Rich Snider will start against Hawaii Pacific tomorrow. It will be Jamie Aloy Saturday with Yoshimasu to start Sunday's game.
Fresno State 6,Hawaii Pacific 1
The Bulldogs (14-19) broke a 1-1 tie with a five-run, sixth inning to win their first tournament game.
Four of the runs were unearned following throwing errors by HPU third baseman Lee Anzai on consecutive plays. Tom Graham scattered 11 hits and stranded 10 HPU runners over 8° innings to get the victory.
The loss ended the Sea Warriors' (29-7) 17-game win streak. Tom Peters had three hits for HPU.
Northwestern 4,Hawaii-Hilo 1:
The Wildcats (5-9) scored all their runs in the fourth and earned their initial tourney win. Pat Thompson ripped a two-run double down the left-field line and Robert Dainton and Tim DaRosa contributed two-out, run-scoring singles.
Brandon Chaves and Shaye Miura each singled twice to account for all the Vulcans' (5-22) hits.
Injury update: UH middle infielder Rory Pico, who aggravated his left leg last Saturday, has not been cleared to play yet. Left fielder Scooter Martines is day-to-day with a bruised left shoulder.
Standings 24th Annual Easter
baseball Tournament
Hawaii 3 0 1.000 Hawaii Pacific 2 1 .667 Nittaidai 2 1 .667 Fresno State 1 2 .333 Northwestern 1 2 .333 Hawaii-Hilo 0 3 .000Yesterday's results
Northwestern 4, Hawaii-Hilo 1
Fresno State 6, Hawaii Pacific 1
Hawaii 10, Nittaidai 5Today's games
Northwestern vs. Fresno State, 11 a.m.
Hawaii Pacific vs. Nittaidai, 2:30 p.m.
Hawaii-Hilo vs. Hawaii, 6:37 p.m.Tomorrow's games
Nittaidai vs. Northwestern, 11 a.m.
Fresno State vs. Hawaii-Hilo, 2:30 p.m.
Hawaii Pacific vs. Hawaii, 6:37 p.m.
Hawaii 10, Nittaidai 5
Nittaidai AB R H BI Hawaii AB R H BI Takemura ss 1 1 0 0 Takamori rf 4 2 2 1 Shibuya lf 5 1 1 0 Dartt 2b 3 2 0 1 Amano rf 4 2 1 0 Aloy 1b 3 1 1 3 Umezaki dh 3 1 2 0 Nakano lf 4 0 1 0 Nakamura cf 3 0 0 1 Honma lf 1 0 0 0 Higashikawa 1b 4 0 1 2 Wakakuwa c 3 0 0 1 Okada c 4 0 0 1 Nogawaa ss 3 1 1 2 Yamasaki 3b 3 0 2 0 Childers dh/p 4 1 1 1 Maruhashi 2b 4 0 0 0 Mitchell cf 4 2 3 0 Wheeler 3b 3 1 0 0 Totals 31 5 7 4 Totals 32 10 9 9 Nittaidai 000 003 200--5 7 1 Hawaii 050 005 00x--10 9 1E--Yamasaki, Dartt. DP--UH 1. LOB--NITT 11, UH 7.2B--Shibuya, Umezaki, Aloy, Childers. 3B--Nogawa. SB--Yamasaki, Dartt 2. SH--Takemura, Okada. SF--Higashikawa, Wakakuwa.
Nittaidai IP H R ER BB SO Sato (L) 5.0 7 7 7 3 8 Onaka 3.0 2 3 3 2 4 Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Yoshimasu 5.1 4 3 3 4 6 Mackenzie 1.0 1 2 2 2 1 Miller 1.2 1 0 0 2 1 Childers 1.0 1 0 0 0 0WP--Onaka, Yoshimasu 2. PB--Okada, Wakakuwa. HBP--Takamori (by Sato), Nogawa (by Sato), Umezaki (by Yoshimasu), Dartt (by Onaka).Umpires--Gary Montalbo (plate), Keoki Torres (first), Guy Ogawa (third). A--2956.
Fresno State AB R H BI Hawaii Pacific AB R H BI Creighton 2b 5 0 0 0 Roman cf 5 0 2 0 Hintz rf 5 1 1 0 Clutter 2b 4 0 1 0 Acevedo lf 4 1 2 0 Gerhardt dh 4 0 0 0 Gemoll 1b 5 1 2 1 Yanagisawa c 4 0 1 0 Guzman cf 3 1 0 0 Peters lf 4 0 3 0 Prieto dh 3 0 0 1 Ka. McCallum 1b 4 0 0 0 Garcia 3b 4 1 0 0 Anzai 3b 2 1 1 0 Harper c 3 1 1 0 Lyons ph/3b 2 0 2 0 Fanconi ss 3 0 1 1 Stith rf 2 0 0 0 Kaulukukui ph 1 0 0 0 Uegawachi ss 3 0 0 0 Sylvester ph 1 0 1 0 Totals 35 6 7 3 Totals 36 1 11 0 Fresno State 100 005 000--6 7 2 Hawaii Pacific 010 000 000--1 11 4E--Creighton, Graham, Clutter, Yanagisawa, Anzai 2. DP--FSU 1. LOB--FSU 7, HPU 10.2B--Acevedo, Peters. 3B--Clutter, Peters. SB--Anzai. CS--Acevedo. SF--Prieto.
Fresno State IP H R ER BB SO Graham (W 4-4) 8.1 11 1 1 2 3 Smith 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 Hawaii Pacific IP H R ER BB SO Surdock (L 4-2) 6.0 6 6 2 2 2 Nunes 3.0 1 0 0 1 0WP--Graham. CI--Yanagisawa.Umpires--Jim LeBeau (plate), Ben Ormita (first). A--186.
Hawaii-Hilo AB R H BI Northwestern AB R H BI Takahashi cf 3 1 0 0 Williamson 2b 4 1 1 0 Chaves ss 4 0 2 1 Kurella 4 1 1 0 Yap dh 4 0 0 0 Thompson dh 4 1 1 2 Wallis 3b 4 0 0 0 Hietpas c 4 0 1 0 Yates 1b 3 0 0 0 Standring 1b 3 1 1 0 Yee 1b 1 0 0 0 Dainton cf 2 0 1 1 Park lf/rf 2 0 0 0 Darosa rf 3 0 1 1 Chu cf 1 0 0 0 Robinson 3b 3 0 0 0 Jinbo c 3 0 0 0 Musselman lf 2 0 0 0 Sanchez 2b 2 0 0 0 Miura lf/rf 3 0 2 0 Totals 30 1 4 1 Totals 29 4 7 4 Hawaii-Hilo 000 001 000--1 4 1 Northwestern 000 400 00X--4 7 2E--Chaves, Williamson, Robinson. DP--UHH 2, NU 1. LOB--UHH 4, NU 3.2B--Thompson. SB--Miura. CS--Dainton.
Hawaii-Hilo IP H R ER BB SO Bell (L 0-4) 4.1 6 4 3 2 0 Rayl 2.2 1 0 0 0 3 Tanaka 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 Northwestern IP H R ER BB SO Ribas (W 1-2) 9.0 4 1 0 1 3HBP--Takahashi (by Ribas) Umpires--Frank Tomaszewski (plate), Guy Ogawa (first), Jim LeBeau (third). A--117.
