Player hit by golf
ball testifies
about her pain

Ex-Iolani center fielder Amy
Taniguchi tells about how hard
it is now for her to eat

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

Apples, pears and carrots no longer appeal to Amy Taniguchi. Even soft tacos are no longer her favorite.

Not since the Iolani center fielder was struck in the mouth with a golf ball at the University of Hawaii softball field in February, making biting difficult and painful.

As much as possible, the 18-year-old avoids eating foods that require the use of her front teeth.

"It's sore when I bite into things," she testified yesterday.

The pain comes and goes.

To eat a sandwich, she has to tear it into pieces and use her back teeth to chew. She has given up soft tacos because they fall apart when she tries to tear them into smaller pieces.

Taniguchi was waiting for her turn at bat during the state softball championship semifinal round against Baldwin High on Feb. 2 when she was hit. She lost a tooth, which was never recovered, and her mouth bled from the impact. She was taken out of the game, and Iolani later lost.

The state contends she suffered protracted loss and impairment since the incident because she can no longer chew normally.

Former University of Hawaii student Daniel Copperud, 19, on trial for hitting the golf ball that struck Taniguchi, disputes the state's contention that he caused her "serious bodily injury" -- a felony punishable by five years in jail.

He had hit the ball from the back of his dormitory in the direction of the softball field, about 240 yards away.

The defense suggests he is guilty of third-degree assault, recklessly causing bodily injury, a misdemeanor.

Yesterday, defense attorney Victor Bakke tried to show through his questioning that Taniguchi's injury was not as serious as the state contends.

Two weeks after the incident, Taniguchi told a newspaper reporter she was doing OK and was not sore.

Taniguchi testified she would have stayed for the rest of the game even if she could not play, but her coaches and parents wanted her checked out.

At the Queen's Medical Center emergency room, her orthodontist had to pull her two front teeth forward because they had been pushed in by the ball's impact. She said she was "sore" during the procedure but did not cry. She was not prescribed any painkillers and did not take any. She relied on ice packs instead to keep the area numb.

Despite her injury, Taniguchi returned the next day to watch Iolani play a consolation game.

She saw her orthodontist two days later, and he installed braces on her upper teeth "so my tooth wouldn't fall out." She wore braces previously, but they were removed in her sophomore year.

The following day, the father of one of her teammates offered his services and outfitted her with a temporary tooth for the one she lost. He later gave her clearance to play basketball, which started after the softball season ended, and outfitted her with a special mouthpiece to wear.

Despite missing a week or so of practice because the special mouthpiece had not arrived, Taniguchi was able to play an entire season of basketball for Iolani. She was hit in the mouth a couple times with a ball, but the mouthpiece helped, she said.

She also played summer softball for Pearl City in the Amateur Softball Association.

She said she was advised by the coach to wear a mouthpiece, but "I didn't want to."

She hopes nothing will prevent her from being a walk-on for the UH Wahine this fall.

The nonjury trial before Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto resumes tomorrow.