This year's Rainbow Easter Tournament is the smallest ever with only four teams and will be completed over a five-day period beginning tomorrow. Easter tourney
Rainbows swept again
compressed to 4By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com
Joining the Hawaii Rainbows in the tournament are the 2002 NAIA national champion Lewis-Clark State Warriors, the Western Illinois Leathernecks and the Air Force Academy Falcons, back for the first time since they left the Western Athletic Conference.
Tomorrow: Air Force vs. Lewis-Clark State, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Western Illinois, 6:35 p.m. Schedule
Wednesday: Air Force vs. Western Illinois, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Lewis-Clark State, 6:35 p.m.
Thursday: Western Illinois vs. Lewis-Clark State, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Air Force, 6:35 p.m.
Friday: Semifinal games at 2:30 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.
Saturday: Third place 2:30 p.m.; Championship, 6:35 p.m.
Note: UH plays at 6:35 regardless of results. All UH games broadcast live by KFVE (Channel 5) and KKEA (1420 AM).
The tournament is a break from WAC play for the Rainbows and a chance for them to rediscover the winning formula they thrived on earlier in the season. Hawaii has just two victories in its last eight home games.
"The worst thing that can happen is for us to feel sorry for ourselves. I don't know why we haven't been winning, but we come out and work hard," said senior captain Brent Cook.
"We're just not getting the job done. We'll see how things go the next couple of days. If we're hanging our heads, then it will be time for the captains to do something about it."
The Rainbows have won the tournament 11 times, the last in 1999.
UH coach Mike Trapasso says there will be no major experiments during the tournament.
"We need to win some games. I may play players at different positions, but it will be a position they have played before," said Trapasso.
The tournament format is a single round robin with semifinal games Friday and the consolation and championship games Saturday.
The Warriors won their 12th national title last year, finishing with a 41-16 record. They are 17-4 this season but Friday and Saturday's results from their own tournament had not been posted on the school Web site last night.
Coach Ed Cheff, in his 27th season at LCSC, has brought 13 teams to the Rainbow Easter Tournaments. His Warriors have played more games (98) in the tournament than any other school except UH. The Warriors won three titles and shared one with UC Santa Barbara in 2001.
The Leathernecks play a rare interisland doubleheader tomorrow when they conclude their series with the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans in a morning game at Francis Wong Stadium, then fly to Oahu and meet the Rainbows tomorrow night at 6:35 at Murakami Stadium.
Western Illinois, members of the Mid-Continent Conference, arrived in the islands with a five-game winning streak and a 7-7 record. The streak ended when the Vulcans won the opener of a doubleheader in Kona yesterday, 4-3, but the Leathernecks rebounded to win the second game 10-7. The teams played another twinbill today.
The Falcons lost a Mountain West Conference series at San Diego State over the weekend by scores of 10-3, 18-4 and 19-2. The previous week they were swept by host Nevada-Las Vegas and come to Hawaii with an 8-15 record.
AFA coach Reed Peters, the MWC Coach of the Year in 2002, returns position players at every spot, but began the season with just one returning starter on the mound, sophomore right-hander Johnny Keogel.
Notes: Lewis-Clark State players from Hawaii are catcher Gavin Concepcion (Pearl City), second baseman Micah Furtado (Kapaa) and right-hander Ikaika Lester (Molokai). ... Zach McAngus, a freshman second baseman from Kamehameha, is on the Air Force roster. ... First-year Falcon pitching coach Greg Brummett pitched in the 1989 Easter Tournament for Wichita State.
UH Athletics
