Kurt Suzuki's batting average in his first two seasons at Cal State-Fullerton was .361 -- and he also didn't make an error.
In the swing
Catcher Kurt Suzuki of Wailuku is
catching on fast as a hitter
for Cal State-Fullerton
Rick Vanderhook has been the hitting coach for Cal State-Fullerton baseball for 18 years.
He helped Fullerton win one College World Series and finish second at another, and win eight NCAA regional championships. He helped develop four first-round draft choices, a college player of the year and a player of the decade.
So his opinions mean something.
And this is what he thinks of the Titans' junior catcher from Wailuku, 2001 Baldwin High graduate Kurt Suzuki:
By the numbers
Hits: 72 (1st on team)Batting average: .442 (1st)
Runs scored: 47 (1st)
Runs batted in: 55 (1st)
Slugging average: .687 (1st)
Home runs: 8 (1st)
Doubles: 14 (2nd)
Walks: 38 (1st)
Stolen bases: 6 (2nd)
On-base average: .545 (1st)
Runs produced: 96 (1st)
Fielding average: .993 (2nd)
"He is as good as anybody I have ever coached."
Last weekend, against Cal Poly, Suzuki was as good a college hitter as anyone had ever coached.
He had hit safely in his last nine at-bats coming into a weekend series with UC Riverside before flying out in his first plate appearance Friday. His streak included a double, a triple, a home run and a game-winning single.
"There is nobody in the country playing any better," Vanderhook said.
The national media agree.
Collegiate Baseball newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association chose Suzuki as a national player of the week.
Entering the weekend series with UC-Riverside, Suzuki led the Big West Conference in batting at .442 (72-for-163 in 46 games) and led Fullerton in nine statistical categories.
He handles the celebrity with typical island modesty.
"I'm seeing the ball really well, my rhythm is really good and I'm just trying to enjoy it," Suzuki said.
Suzuki was always a good hitter and a good catcher. He did not make an error in his first two seasons at Fullerton and has only two this year in 277 chances, fielding .993.
His batting average for his first two years at Fullerton was .361.
This season he has gone above and beyond.
"He's gotten a little bit stronger," said Vanderhook, "and he quit trying to hit balls over the fence and kind of let them happen."
Suzuki still leads Fullerton in home runs with eight and slugging average at .687.
"He has perfected his swing pretty well," Vanderhook said, "and the best thing he does is that he doesn't swing at bad pitches.
"All hitters swing at bad pitches, but he doesn't.
"He knows they have to throw it over the plate and he knows he can hit it when they do."
Suzuki feels he is "a lot stronger. I worked very hard in the weight room last fall. I squat-lifted 455 pounds and power-cleaned 280."
He has gained about 15 pounds of muscle, he says, and carries about 200 pounds on his 6-foot frame.
"When I was in high school I could barely squat 360," Suzuki said. "My power-clean as a freshman here was 220."
He also thinks he has improved his ability "to hit the soft stuff. At this moment (after nine straight hits) no pitch is a problem."
He was hit by a pitch and intentionally walked in his last two at-bats last Sunday, and hears plenty from the opponents' dugout about the pressure of his hitting streak.
But he says he doesn't feel it.
"I'm not really thinking about that," Suzuki said. "I'm thinking about a good at-bat whenever I go up and helping the team out whenever I can.
"I just go out and be aggressive" on offense and defense.
College players are eligible for the Major League Free-Agent Draft in June after their third seasons, which is often called their money year.
Suzuki says that if he is drafted and he is offered a good signing bonus, he will go pro this summer.
However, he said lot of scouts have been telling him that "they didn't think I would have a lot of good options."
If he returns to Fullerton next year, he expects to earn a degree in kinesiology and eventually return to Maui to teach and coach.
Vanderhook points out that Suzuki "does very well in school also. That's very important for him.
"Guys can get caught up in baseball, baseball, baseball with the draft coming around, but he takes both halves of being a student-athlete seriously."
Around the horn: Fullerton freshman catcher Vance Otake of Kahului and Maui High had surgery before the season to repair a torn labrum and is redshirting.
Cal State-Fullerton won the College World Series in 1995 and was runner-up in 1992. The Titans have been to the College World Series three of the past five years. Rick Vanderhook coached national player of the year Phil Nevin ('92) and Mark Kotsay ('96), whom Baseball America picked as the college player of the decade.
Kurt Suzuki shares the Fullerton school record for fielding by a catcher, a perfect 1.000 in 2003. He handled 302 chances without an error. Entering this year, he had no errors in 441 career chances at Fullerton.
Suzuki says that the walk-off home run he hit with two outs and a full count in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat No. 3 Long Beach State 9-7 last May is his biggest baseball thrill. He had three ninth-inning, game-winning hits last season and another one April 30 this year that started his hitting streak.
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Washington’s Dignam
makes her markThe Iolani graduate sets a 400-meter
record with a time of 54.41 secondsA better diet and better focus are the differences between a frustrating and regressive 2003 season and a school record-setting sophomore track season for Lauran Dignam at the University of Washington.
On May 1, Dignam, a 2002 Iolani graduate from Aina Haina, broke Washington's school record for the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.41 seconds.
It was an amazing 1.77-second improvement over her fastest previous collegiate one-lap run last month and -- finally -- a faster time than her high-school best of 55.82.
Dignam won five gold medals in leading Iolani to the state girls track and field championship in 2002, but her freshman year in Seattle was disappointing.
"I didn't improve at all -- I wasn't even hitting my marks from high school," she said.
"I was greatly frustrated and I didn't have the love for it I used to have.
"This year I wanted to come back," she added. "I changed a lot of different things.
"I moved out of the dorms. I'm eating healthier food, keeping my weight constant.
"I'm lifting (weights) a lot harder and doing everything that I could do to be a good track athlete.
"Finally, it has all started to come together."
Lauran Dignam, center, passed two runners from Washington State University in this run.
Her record run last week -- 10th best in history by a Washington resident -- qualified her for the Pac-10 championships next weekend in Tucson and for the NCAA Western Regional in Texas in June. She ranks eighth in the Pac-10 and 11th in the region.
"She's got a lot more left in the tank," said Washington sprint coach Dion Miller. "I expect 53 high by the end of the year."
Miller attributes Dignam's improvement to getting "a great base" of training during the fall and winter indoor season.
"She is in better shape and she got a lot of speed work indoors," Miller said.
"In high school, she was running off talent and had not learned too much about the 400 and 200. She had decent speed, but never got the base work that she needed," he explained. "She is still learning. She's a student of the game.
"My hat is off to Lauran. She puts it down in practice every day," Miller added.
Dignam says she "felt so comfortable on Saturday, I felt like I probably could have gone faster.
"My goal for this year was to break 55 (seconds). I've done that and I really want to go 53 now. ... That would be awesome.
"I'm pretty excited about it."
Dignam also ran a lifetime-best 24.34 seconds in the 200 on May 1.
"I want to break 24 in the 200," she said.
