The University of Hawaii baseball team joined the Big West Conference in 2012. At the time, this seemed like a great opportunity … perhaps a chance to eventually regain its spot as a consistently strong national program, because of the higher level of the competition. You know, the rising tide and all boats thing.
It hasn’t worked out that way, as Sunday’s frustrating season-concluding nonconference loss to Arizona put the ’Bows at the wrong end of a sweep and concludes a fourth losing season in a row.
In a season of extreme ups and mostly downs, UH had given its fans hope yet again last week, winning two-of-three at Big West kingpin Fullerton. There was no postseason for which to play, but a good showing against one of the better teams in the Pac-12 would at least end the season on a positive note.
The overriding story of this season was missed opportunities, and it was more of the same Sunday. So many runners left on base, this time late in the game.
The ’Bows tied it up at 3 in the eighth, but should have gotten more. And the real killer was in the seventh when the team’s hottest hitter, freshman Ethan Lopez, sharply grounded into a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded and one out.
There were quite a few more baseball alumni on hand than usual for this one, as they paid homage to Don Robbs completing his 40-year career as the play-by-play radio broadcaster.
Some of Robbs’ visitors Sunday, like Ron Nomura, Sam Kakazu and Terry Derby — and, of course, coach Les Murakami — as well as many fans, have been around long enough to know the sickening symbolism in a 5-3 season-ending loss to Arizona.
“They knocked us out at Tucson in their regional, 5-3,” said Nomura, the feisty catcher and longtime Murakami assistant who completed his career in 1979.
“Tell me about it,” added Kakazu, who lettered in 1977 and ’79-81. “They ended my season twice, second time at the College World Series. Same score, 5-3.”
Pretty eerie.
And another sad reminder of how excellent this program was, for an extended period of time and how it has gradually decayed.
There have been some good years under coach Mike Trapasso, but not recently.
The 2016 Rainbows were better than the weak-hitting editions of the past three years, but this time the pitching was woefully thin. There were enough capable arms to get the job done … but only if just about everything went right, and that’s not how baseball works over the course of a season.
Injuries and a heavy reliance on junior college transfers have led to too much turnover on the pitching staff, and five of the six hurlers UH relied on most are among the 10 graduating seniors.
The Rainbows return a good chunk of their starting position players. But two of the best graduated, shortstop Jacob Sheldon-Collins and center fielder Matt LoCoco.
A lot of people who care about the program want Trapasso out, but that’s extremely unlikely with a year left on his contract. And back-to-back .500 seasons in Big West play can be painted as progress after a combined .333 the first two in the conference.
But the rumblings for change are increasing and getting louder again. Four losing seasons in a row will cause that, regardless of the level of competition.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads Opens in a new tab.
