Baseball fans complain about the lack of pitching that allowed Barry Bonds to hit 73 home runs. Basketball fans complain about kids leaving early for the NBA. HPU’s Sato deals with
challenges of D-II baseballBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comCombine the two problems and you have an idea of what Allan Sato faces every day.
Sato, Hawaii Pacific's baseball coach, gets pitching from wherever he can because he has nowhere else to turn.
By the time a young man is a senior in high school and has proven an ability to throw a ball 60 feet 6 inches, he has been judged. If he can make the ball arrive faster than anyone in his state can, he goes directly to the professional ranks. If he can throw it harder than anyone in his city can, NCAA Division I college is the way to go.
And if he has the right mechanics but just not enough oomph, he goes to an NCAA Division II or NAIA school to work with people like Sato.
"You are not going to see too many 90-mph hardballers," Sato said. "I look strictly at mechanics; it's not hard to see whether he has got it or doesn't. Then I ask myself how much work it is going to take to make it worth it to the team."
The watered-down state of pitching on the Division II level actually changes the game, turning it into something more like slow-pitch softball and putting a premium on defenders who can stop the aluminum-aided shots that are sure to come from the plate.
"It changes the strategy of pitching," Sato said. "We kind of have to teach kids to pitch backwards. Instead of establishing the fastball, our kids have to start with the slower stuff because it is their best stuff. It totally changes the strategy."
A new rule allowing failed professionals to return to the diamond on the Division II level was supposed to help, but not too many took the NCAA up on the offer.
And Sato does not expect that to change, pointing out that a "failed professional" has failed for a reason, either because of an injury or because he was not that good in the first place.
Even with the annual draft and NCAA Division I taking every available arm and leaving him scraps, Sato remains upbeat. He knows the competition is not going to go away, but it only takes a short walk around his neighborhood to see how bright the future is for the game on his level.
"It may have already gotten better," Sato said. "More players in every community are out there throwing, giving us more kids to choose from. Even though so many kids go D-I and so many kids go to the draft, realistically we have lost only three recruits because of it. I don't think it hurts us much, if at all."
Eye on Hawaii: Hawaii's recent claim of being a hotbed of Division II basketball got a little stronger yesterday, when Chaminade debuted in the regional poll at No. 10.
That put all four of Hawaii's Division II squads in the rankings, with Hawaii Pacific staying at No. 8 after splitting a pair with the Silverswords. Hawaii-Hilo and Brigham Young -- who also split a pair last week --- came in fifth and sixth. Hilo was ranked fourth last week.
The top four ranked teams will join the region's two conference champions in the West Region tournament.