COURTESY HAWAII-HILO
Hawaii-Hilo first baseman Leinani Hashida has struck out only two times in 108 at-bats this season.
Running Some say that the secret to hitting is to not allow yourself to either get too high or too low, to forget home runs and strikeouts as soon as you get back into the dugout.
on contact
Hilo's Hashida takes pride
in putting the ball in playBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comThat may be why Hawaii-Hilo senior Leinani Hashida is one of the best hitters in the Pacific West Conference -- she rarely hits home runs or strikes out.
"My No. 1 goal is to not strike out," Hashida said. "I get really upset with myself and if I strike out looking I will spend a lot of time in the batting cage so that I can look into the mirror without breaking it."
She has hit .335 in her four-year collegiate career, and holds the PacWest's single-season record for putting the ball in play, striking out once every 47.3 at-bats in her sophomore year. She is on pace to break that record this year, having struck out only twice in 108 chances. She has hit four home runs in that span and can be counted on for one a year.
But ask Hashida about her last leisurely stroll around the bases and she honestly can't remember. Ask her about the last time she struck out, and she launches into a tirade of self hate -- no matter that her latest failure was nine days ago. For the record, it was on an 0-2 curveball against Dominguez Hills that will stay in her mind until the next time she has to sit down without putting the ball into play.
Hashida is one of those hitters who doesn't bother with guessing what pitch is coming; she doesn't even bother herself with location. All the way back to her days as a three-time all-state softball player for Mililani, Hashida has had one simple rule for hitting: See the ball and hit it.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Leinani Hashida
"I have trouble recognizing what a strike is, so I swing at everything," Hashida said.
The biology major went to college to use her head -- to be a student first -- but nothing in her approach to school translates to the batter's box. While she has to get through a biology lab or math test -- like in softball, sometimes she succeeds and sometimes she fails -- by packing her brain with information, when she enters the batter's box she clears her mind of everything. She has to recognize pitches as they leave the pitcher's hand, but that has become more of a reflex than a thought.
"When I think, I get myself into trouble," Hashida said about her approach in the batter's box. "There are some girls who can think and analyze and do well. Whenever I am struggling, it is usually because I am thinking too much."
With success 33 percent of the time, it is a surprise that Hashida ever struggles, but Hashida doesn't measure success by the numbers that make her look good. For her, the feeling in her hands after tagging the ball is all she needs to know if she is doing the job. How far the ball goes or where it lands is secondary. She just wants to keep feeling solid contact, defense be damned.
"You have times when you hit the ball solid, but it's caught," Hashida said. "You have to stay positive and tell yourself that you can't do any more than that. If I hit a line drive, I'll take it."
If Hashida would have had her way, the game may have never seen a hitter like her. When she was young, she actually wanted to use her incredible hand-eye coordination on a game that does not allow its players to use their hands.
"Actually my parents forced me to play softball," Hashida said. "I wanted to play soccer, but they wanted me to broaden my view on life because everything to me was soccer, soccer, soccer."
Hashida played both sports for a while, but when it was time to make a choice in the eighth grade -- she was old enough that here parents were not involved in this one -- she chose softball because it was the more difficult sport for her. Now she says her soccer days are a blur.
The results of her choice of softball over soccer are nearing the end. She plans to stay away from the game for a year after the season wraps up and transfer to UH-Manoa to add another major. If the year away turns out to be too difficult to handle, she wants to explore coaching or any other way to get back near the field.
"I was talking to the other seniors and we were saying that we are going to have to go to therapy after this is over," Hashida said. "We have known softball for all of our lives."
Hashida is such a natural hitter that she has kept her average up this season despite being moved back to her natural position of first base after three years in the Vulcans' outfield. The change gave her even less time to dwell on the infrequent strikeouts and has given her her highest batting average since hitting .383 in her freshman year.
"It (first base) is definitely a different look at the game," Hashida said. "I don't have a lot of time to daydream."
Although Hashida credits her success to the ability to shut off her brain when she steps into the box, others say she is just humble. Sure, she was born with enough hand-eye coordination to lash out at a pitch an instant after she sees it, but honing that skill is what keeps her hitting over .300.
"She always puts the bat on the ball," Hilo head coach Callen Perreira said. "A lot of it is natural ability, but it came with a lot of experience and a lot of practice."
Leinani Hashida
g ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi bb so avg. 2003 Senior 33 108 18 37 0 1 1 10 6 2 .343 2002 Junior 53 167 27 57 11 3 2 27 9 5 .341 2001 Sophomore 46 142 13 39 8 1 1 21 7 3 .341 2000 Freshman 44 141 22 54 13 3 1 29 6 5 .383
>> 2002 PacWest All-Conference first team
>> 2001 PacWest All-Conference honorable mention
>> 2001 PacWest record with three strikeouts in 142 at-bats
>> 2000 PacWest first-team All-Conference and Division II West Region second team
>> Member of two national champion Bobby Sox teams in 1996-97
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