The University of Hawaii baseball team will be without three players for its season-opening road series against Arizona State this weekend.
The three Rainbow Warriors are in quarantine because of contact-tracing protocol, and will not play in Friday’s opener and Saturday’s doubleheader at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The three players have not tested positive for the coronavirus nor displayed any symptoms. UH did not identify the players, citing privacy rules.
UH coach Mike Trapasso said the plan remains to take 27 players — UH’s maximum for preseason travel — when the ’Bows are scheduled to depart tonight.
The ’Bows are tested three times a week for the coronavirus. They also are checked for symptoms every day before being allowed to enter the Manoa campus. They wear masks during meetings and practices, and do not use the locker room. They underwent tests on Tuesday morning.
“I just have that feeling this will be one of those interesting years where, 48 hours before every series we play, probably, we’re going to be crossing our fingers that we do play.” Trapasso said.
Trapasso said the ’Bows will have to adjust to potential pandemic-related situations.
“It’s the year of adversity,” Trapasso said. “If we’re going to have success, we’re going to have to roll with the changes, roll with the punches. understand we have to be flexible. We can’t get emotional if something happens, because it’s just the way things are going right now. We have to control the controllables. We don’t have control over all this that is going on. What we have control over is how we react to it, how we prepare.”
Trapasso noted that when players are unavailable, that creates “opportunities for other guys. … You have depth, and that’s why you recruit, so guys have opportunities. Everybody on our roster is there because they bring value. The No. 1 guy or the No. 37 guy, they’re here because they’re Division I baseball players that we expect to perform successfully. Or else why are they here?”
Trapasso will go with an all right-handed pitching rotation this week. Aaron Davenport will start on Friday, and Cade Halemanu and Logan Pouelsen will be UH’s starting pitchers for Saturday’s doubleheader. Austin Teixeira is projected to be the first out of the bullpen, depending on the situation. Teixeira will be a starting pitcher in four-game series.
Following the ASU games, the ’Bows will play four-game series against Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii Hilo the ensuing two weekends in advance of the Big West opener against Long Beach State on March 19.
