[ RAINBOW BASEBALL ]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In his first season with Hawaii, outfielder Greg Kish is hitting .365, second best on the team.
Trapasso never
gave up on Kish
Greg Kish had a wealth of choices when it came to choosing a college to attend when he graduated from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., in 2001.
He had played for the United States Junior National Team and augmented his exposure by playing in tournaments during the summer and fall with a traveling team.
Arizona, Arizona State, California, Loyola Marymount, Long Beach State, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Georgia Tech were among the nationally prominent baseball programs seeking his talents.
HPU at UH
When: Tomorrow, 6:35 p.m.Where: Murakami Stadium
TV: Live, KFVE, Channel 5
Radio: Live, KKEA, 1420-AM
Tickets: $6 Orange, Blue levels. $5 Red level. $4 seniors, children age 4-18, UH students in the Red level.
Parking: $3
Georgia Tech? Yes, and the head recruiter there was then-assistant coach Mike Trapasso. Kish did not end up at Georgia Tech. He ended up playing two seasons for Oklahoma.
It's not the end of the story that's full of "small world" twists.
"I hadn't talked to him (Trapasso) in a couple of weeks when he called just before we were trying to get a recruiting trip together," said Kish. "He told me he had signed a couple of other guys, didn't have any money left and there would be no recruiting trip.
"No matter how much you thought about going to that school, when you hear that from a coach, you are offended. I saw him at a tourney later and he came over to shake my hand and I kind of blew him off."
Everything seemed to be a good fit for the junior outfielder at Oklahoma. He wanted to get away and experience something different, and Oklahoma and Southern California are definitely different.
"I wanted to be away from my little bubble at home. I picked Oklahoma for the school, not baseball. They have a great business program and as a senior, you get to run a simulated business. It was a decent deal," said Kish, who hit .306 for the Sooners a year ago.
But, the baseball portion of campus life in Norman did not turn out as well for Kish. He made it known he was not happy. He discussed the situation with Mike Spears, his traveling-team coach, after he got his release from Oklahoma.
"Coach Spears told me about UH and said it would be a good fit for me. It came down to Santa Clara and UH," said Kish.
"Coach Spears said, 'Wait, do you know who the head coach is at Hawaii?' I didn't and when he told me I said I know that name from somewhere. Coach Spears said, 'He's the assistant you blew off at Georgia Tech.' That taught me not to burn your bridges."
Trapasso was just as surprised when he received Spears' telephone call about a guy at Oklahoma who was interested in transferring.
"Greg was a high-profile player out of high school. It was a tough call because I loved him as a player. It was just as tough to tell him we had early commitments from a couple of outfielders and that we were pretty much done with recruiting," said Trapasso. "That's something you rarely do, but we were pretty much smoked."
Kish and Trapasso have had a lot of laughs since about the way their paths crossed again. Both are happy with the result.
"We talked and Coach was able to understand my thinking at the time. He was cool. It's funny how things work out," said Kish.
"I had never heard much about the UH program. When I knew Coach was here, I knew he had a prestigious name and is well recommend by a lot of people and I was told he was going to turn this program around."
Kish, who visited Maui for a cousin's wedding but never came to Oahu, showed up at UH last fall. It wasn't long this spring before it became impossible to keep him on the bench.
He saw spot duty early, appearing in seven of the Rainbows' first 10 games. Then, Jaziel Mendoza, who had been starting in left field, pulled a hamstring. Since becoming a regular, Kish has raised his average from .261 to .365 -- second on the team -- by going 13-for-29. He also has a .500 on-base percentage, tops on the team.
"I like Greg's energy, the way he goes about his business. He has toughness and we need that. Even in a team meeting, you look at him, and he is locked in," said Trapasso.
"As long as I know I'm going as hard as I can, then things just fall in place after that," said Kish. "I don't worry about stats. The only stat I worry about is the win column."
Kish, as a 16-year-old, was a member of the U.S. National Junior Team and had a great tournament in Ecuador where he was named Most Valuable Player. It was there that he realized there could be a lot of baseball in his future. It also was the first time he was coached by Spears, a man he credits with helping him become a Division I player.
"We played against intense competition in Ecuador. It was a whole different world, a tremendous experience," said Kish. "I was so fortunate. Ever since, I've traveled everywhere.
"Our family vacations were planned around where I was playing. My mom and dad (Jean and Patrick Kish) were very supportive. The best part was they never forced me to play, but told me that if I was playing to play as hard as you can."
In the small-world department, two of his teammates on the national team were Hawaii prep standouts Brandon League and Bronson Sardinha.
"You think you will never see guys like that again, but during the winter it was fun talking to them in the weight room."
When Kish has some free time, he bodysurfs. He says he loves Makapuu.
