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Monday
Evening QB
FOR one afternoon yesterday, all was well with the University of Hawaii baseball program. For one sunny day,
all’s well with RainbowsCoach Les Murakami was honored before the game by a local politician and then by Murakami's alma mater, Santa Clara, the school the Rainbows were playing.
Then Hawaii went out and whupped 'em, just like the good old days.
Gone, at least for this Sunday, were the increasingly not-so-quiet whispers from various corners calling to replace Murakami. It's a grumble you hear often when local people talk about baseball, and one that's been going on awhile now. It has grown louder with the Rainbows' 4-10 start this year.
But a 13-2 series-winning victory at sun-splashed Rainbow Stadium made one think of the glory years. When UH regularly sent opponents home with sore okoles. When Hawaii played the best teams in the nation, fully expecting to beat them. When contending for the WAC title was a given - and even more was expected, and sometimes delivered.
You'd have to imagine the empty seats filled and the opponent a more high-profile one than Santa Clara.
But otherwise, the ingredients were the same: a pouncing offense scoring runs in bunches, solid and sometimes spectacular defense, and best of all, a dominating pitching performance.
Rich Snider is a 5-foot-10, 182-pound right-handed senior who, before yesterday, hadn't really done anything to make anyone think of Chuck Crim, or even Rocky Ynclan.
But he was magical yesterday, getting ahead in the count with his fastball and then throwing "anything I wanted, because there was no pressure." He didn't give up a hit until the seventh inning.
Part of the reason Snider felt at ease was the early run support he got from the Rainbows. Another key was first-pitch strikes.
The question is whether Snider can follow up on Hawaii's best pitching performance of the season and become the ace of a staff that sorely needs one.
"He's got stuff. It's a matter of keeping ahead of the batters," Murakami said.
OK, Snider could be good. Maybe very good. But after him and Jamie Aloy, then what?
RANDON Ho, who was effective last year with a 6-3 record and 2.57 ERA, continues to be a mystery this season.
The senior left-hander was shelled early and often Saturday by the same Broncos who couldn't figure out Snider. They beat the bumbling 'Bows, 12-11, and Ho left the game with a 9.15 ERA.
"Randon is capable of pitching like this, too," Murakami said, comparing him to Snider. "But he's having a hard time focusing, and he's having some mechanical difficulties."
UH not only lacks reliable pitching, but also the consistently solid defense to back it up.
Hawaii played three different catchers in the series, and there is little continuity in the middle infield.
"It bothers me, but when you have people injured and not eligible, it's difficult," Murakami said.
Freshman infielder Akaniao Kozeniewski is caught up in an absurd situation; the NCAA clearinghouse disapproved an English class Kozeniewski took at Waianae.
You have to figure Kozeniewski is a pretty decent English student, considering his favorite book is "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Regardless, nobody truly knows yet if Kozeniewski is the key to the UH infield defense. And if a couple more guys don't start throwing like Snider did yesterday, it won't matter.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail dreardon@starbulletin.com