[WAHINE SOFTBALL]
It didn't take long for the Hawaii softball team to learn its postseason fate yesterday. Coolen cool about
missing postseasonBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comActually, it didn't take long for any of the 48 teams invited to the NCAA tournament to find out either.
The ESPNews Selection Show lasted less than five minutes, going by so quickly that Wahine coach Bob Coolen didn't get a chance to fill out a bracket, let alone digest why some schools made it and some schools didn't.
He already knew going into yesterday why Hawaii wouldn't be up on the screen when the team met at Eastside Grill to watch the show.
"I'm not surprised," he said. "I knew once we started splitting with teams, dropping out of first place, that it was going to be tough. When Fresno State took care of us (April 19-21), we knew we'd have to win all of our last games.
"There was a lot of pressure to go 10-0 and we didn't have the team to do that. They hung in there, didn't fold like some teams might have. But I think they learned something for next year. And that is if they really want it, they can't falter late in games, have those errors down the stretch."
Hawaii (35-25, 15-9 Western Athletic Conference) went 5-5 in its last 10 games, finishing tied with Tulsa for second place in the WAC. Only league champion and No. 14 Fresno State, which will host one of the regionals, was selected from the WAC.
Twenty-four conferences get automatic bids, leaving 24 at-large teams. The Pac-10, which dominated the Top 25 poll (six of the top nine teams), got seven teams in, as did the SEC.
Coolen, who is on the West Regional advisory committee, said he was surprised to see so many teams from the SEC get in. He said what especially hurt his team was having Long Beach State (35-23) falter at the end.
Despite losing their last six games, the 49ers (No. 4) remained ahead of the Wahine (No. 5) in the final West region poll. The two other Big West teams ahead of Long Beach State -- conference champ Cal State Fullerton and runner-up Pacific -- are in the field.
"Long Beach State was in the driver's seat where we were concerned," said Coolen. "When they lost and we didn't move ahead of them ... maybe if they us moved us in front of them, we would have had a chance."
Hawaii loses three seniors from this year's team, outfielder Stacie Hirano, second baseman Natalie Gonzales and catcher Jennifer Tandarich. Signing letters of intent last fall were: Ashley Ruff, a 5-7 shortstop from Kamehameha Schools; Ashley Power, a 5-9 versatile middle infielder from Kealakehe High in Kailua-Kona; and Hannah Butler, a speedy outfielder from Rincon High in Tucson, Ariz.
"We feel that we needed to address size and speed for next year and we have done that with these recruits coming in," Coolen said.
But what Coolen doesn't have is an ace pitcher and a catcher.
"Our weakness is on the mound and behind the plate," he said. I'm still looking for that star pitcher that nobody's found."
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