STAR-BULLETIN FILE / FEBRUARY 2004 Steven Wright has improved his ERA from 4.86 last season to 0.83 this season.

All the Wright stuff

Spending time in Alaska last summer
helped the Rainbows right-hander
get ready for 2005

Steven Wright returned to the Hawaii campus last fall with a new attitude and an appreciation of what is necessary to be a successful pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.

Batter up! Who: Florida State at Hawaii When: Today and tomorrow, 6:35 p.m.; Saturday, 1:05 p.m. Where: Les Murakami Stadium. TV: Today live, KFVE, Ch. 5. Radio: All games live, KKEA, 1420-AM. Tickets: $7 orange and blue sections; $6 red section; $5 seniors, and $3 students age 4-18, UH students in the red section. Parking: $3

"The first thing I did when I got back was go to the coaches and tell them I would do whatever they wanted," said Wright, who spent last summer pitching in the Alaska League.

The right-hander did not have a bad freshman year, but it didn't meet his standards nor the coaches' expectations. He was 2-1 with a 4.86 earned-run average in 18 appearances, seven of those starting assignments.

"I wasn't disappointed, but I didn't work as hard as I'm capable of doing. There was a big adjustment, especially with the physical conditioning," said Wright. "I slacked off, thought I did OK, but now I don't settle for OK."

Wright says spending last summer in the 49th state was the best thing that could have happened to him. He got away from everyone. His cell phone didn't work. He was able to collect his thoughts and just play baseball every day.

The 6-foot-2 200-pounder pitched 24 innings, compiling a 2.63 ERA for the Peninsula Oilers. He walked eight and struck out 24, an average of one per inning. Those numbers were an improvement over his freshman numbers at UH where he walked 23 and fanned 30 in 46 1/3 innings.

"I started to throw like I did in high school. I gained confidence and tried to carry it over when I got back here," said Wright. "I busted my butt in the weight room, did my conditioning and approached every day like it was my last day."

The UH coaches considered the Moreno Valley, Calif., resident for the fifth starting spot in the rotation, but decided he was more valuable as a reliever to start the season. That decision has worked out well. In 18 1/3 innings, Wright has an 0.83 ERA, has walked just two batters, and struck out 19.

"Steven is a different person now and that has made him a stronger, better person. He has been a joy this year from the first day of fall practice. He has reached what we call a coachable moment," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso.

"He was so successful in high school and summer ball against great competition, that he came in with a high level of expectation that was matched by us. But, everyone else coming in has that same level of expectation.

"He had to realize he had to work to be the pitcher he wants to be, quit making excuses and take some accountability. In reality, he is throwing now just the way he expected last year."

Wright says he had two shoeboxes full of letters from college coaches interested in his talent. He was heavily recruited by Arizona State, Oklahoma State and Long Beach State and was drafted in the 26th round by the San Diego Padres. He signed with Hawaii early, deciding he liked the way Trapasso approached the game.

Then he made a promise to the grandfather (Robert Robb) who drove him to games, helped with finances when he played for the Amateur Baseball Development Bulldogs (a traveling team coached by the father of UH freshman Joe Spiers) and would be at various sites around the country to watch him play.

"I promised him that if I didn't get enough money that I would go to college and get three years of education," said Wright. "We set a number (the Padres didn't meet) and I thought I would go higher in the draft. I didn't and I never disobey a promise."

Always a starting pitcher, Wright says pitching is pitching no matter what the role.

"There is a little adjustment being a reliever, but you still have the goal of getting the hitter out whether there is no one on or the bases are loaded. The only difference is you don't have an inning to be on top of your game.

"I will have my bad days, but I try to eliminate them. The moment you are tentative, you are going to fail.

"It's one-on-one with the batter. If I execute every pitch they aren't going to hit. If they do, it is going to be an out."