Sunday, November 25, 2001
[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
Trapasso recruits 11 One of Mike Trapasso's strong points at Georgia Tech was his ability to convince recruits to make a commitment during the early signing period in the fall.
in early signing period
The new UH coach, known for his
recruiting skills, adds 5 local playersBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comHe continued to do that with his first opportunity as Hawaii's baseball coach by signing 11 players to national letters of intent. They will enter the university in the fall of 2002 and compete for the 2003 Rainbows.
"I'm pleased we were able to make an impact on our local talent and sign five players from Hawaii," Trapasso said. "I'm proud of that and excited. We want to build with our local kids and I think this is a great start."
Local players signing were Matt Inouye, a catcher/outfielder, and Isaac Omura, a second baseman, both from Mid-Pacific Institute, and three right-handed pitchers, Guy McDowell from St. Louis, Kamaile Santos from Kailua and Kehai Rawlins from Molokai.
"The emphasis was not necessarily on any position, but we wanted to get athletes in here," Trapasso said. "Now, when we looked at who is coming back, we knew we would be short in catching.
"The thing I like about the catchers we signed is they are versatile and can play other positions. And I like the offensive potential of the position players."
The mainland signees include catchers Drew Jackson of Standley High School in Westminster, Colo., and Steve Bell-Irving from Burnaby, British Columbia.
The pitchers, from California junior colleges, were Justin Azze, a left-hander from Orange Coast Community College, and Nick Ponomarenko, a right-hander from Cuesta Community College.
Rocky Russo, an infielder from Salinas High School in Monterey, Calif., and infielder Tyler Wightman from Poway (Calif.) High School round out the mainland recruits.
"There is no question the focus in the spring will be to bring in a couple more pitchers, then we'll be done," Trapasso said. "We signed five and like them all very much, but we're losing six."
There are 10 seniors on the 2002 UH roster and two or three juniors who will be drafted.
Trapasso also expects most of the recruits will get drafted. Then it's a question of what round and how much money before a recruit has to make another decision.
"We're allowed 25 visits and we used 17. We can't burn them all in the fall because I haven't even seen our kids compete yet. And we don't know what's going to happen in the draft."
Trapasso also said Chris George, a right-handed pitcher from Cypress (Calif.) Junior College, will join the Rainbows for the upcoming season in January.
"Chris definitely has an opportunity to win a spot in the weekend rotation," Trapasso said.
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