When college baseball life gives you lemons, Hawaii coach Rich Hill makes Lululemon.
Hill, who was hired in June, recently finalized a 2022 schedule that opens with Washington State (Feb. 18-21), includes a four-game visit from Vanderbilt, and features nonconference road games in the Tony Gwynn Classic and against USC, San Diego State, Fresno State and UNLV.
With the Under Armour deal lapsed and the full Adidas wear in transition, Hill assembled this ensemble: old-school Kelly green and orange uniforms for Friday games; new-school white uniforms for Saturdays; Kelly green tops and retro pants on Sundays.
“I’m a uniform snob down to the last pinstripe,” Hill said. “I love the Kelly green and what I call the Sheridan orange. We’ll wear that as much as possible.”
The Rainbows also are moving the placards honoring the three retired numbers — Les Murakami’s 11, Derek Tatsuno’s 16 and Kolten Wong’s 14 — from the UH batting cage’s facade to Murakami Stadium’s outfield fence. “When people walk in, they can see Coach Les and Tats and Kolten and an image of them,” said Hill, noting a plan also is to add a sign honoring the Rainbows’ 1980 World Series team.
Hill praised Murakami Stadium’s construction projects, even listing the refurbished rest rooms with no-touch fixtures. “Those things are pristine,” Hill said. “l was thinking of putting a cot in there and living in there for a while.”
Hill said there is talk of moving Saturday’s starting times from 6:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., which would free up the evening for fans and give the players enough break time ahead of the 1 p.m. Sunday start.
Similar to predecessor Mike Trapasso, Hill has final approval on each player’s walk-up song. “One of my pet peeves, if you have a bad walk-up song, that’s bad juju,” Hill said. “Our guys have been pretty good (with their songs). If you ever hear a bad one, just look at me, like, ‘c’mon.’”
Since being hired, Hill put together a coaching staff and went through what he termed a successful fall training. Hill will handle the infielders and catchers, and call the offense from third-base box; Dave Nakama is the hitting coach with a focus on the outfielders; Mathew Troupe is the pitching coach, and Dan Cox is the recruiting coordinator and strategist in charge of scouting, in-game defensive alignments, and crafting game plans.
The Rainbows will enter the season next month with a 31-player roster, with about 27 on the active list. Catcher/outfielder Jared Quandt and Pasadena Community College transfer Tai Walton will miss the season because of labrum injuries. But outfielder Matt Wong, who did not play in 2021 while recovering from a knee injury, is at full health. Left fielder Scotty Scott and second baseman Stone Miyao were among the players who rescinded their transfer-portal applications during the summer and remained with the Rainbows.
Hill said the smaller roster — the NCAA allows up to 35 — will help with individual tutoring to foster development, and create team bonding.
“We’re going to roll with it,” Hill said. “That’s the beauty of a small roster. Guys kind of look around the room and start locking arms with each other and, ‘all right, man, it’s us or nothing. There’s nobody in Triple-A who can come up here.’ ”
Hill said each of the 15 pitchers can contribute. Cade Halemanu is regarded as the ace. Halemanu was not selected in the 2021 10-round draft, and then turned down subsequent free-agent offers to return for his fourth UH season. (He remains a junior eligibility-wise.) Halemanu hit 96 mph last season.
“Aspirin tablets on a Friday night,” Hill said of Halemanu’s projected season-opening start. “He had that courage to turn down money from the pros to come back and make a statement for the Rainbows. He deserves that opportunity to come out on a Friday night and electrify that crowd at Les Murakami.”
Georgia Tech transfer Andy Archer, who threw a shutout in the NCAA regional, is a four-pitch right-hander who projects as the No. 2 starter.
Li‘i Pontes, Tai Atkins and freshmen Ben Whipple (grandson of Basketball Hall of Fame member Dan Issel), Cory Ronan and Harry Gustin are among the potential starters. Hill said he is impressed enough with Cameron Hagen, Tyler Dyball, Austin Teixeira and Buddie Pindel that he might consider going with an opener — a strategy popularized by the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres in which a scripted series of pitchers will be used in a game. “Got some guys who can go one time through a lineup;, and if you mix and match it right, that (opposing) offense has a different look every time around,” Hill said.
Hill said Atkins and Teixeira also can be used in the outfield.
For now, Hill is hopeful that attendance restrictions will continue to be eased. “The first exciting part of being a fan of Hawaii is to get to actually sit in a seat at a game,” Hill said. “Let’s start there. I hope people get to get a saimin up there, maybe a plate lunch. That’s a huge W in itself. That’s the first W we want.”
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2023 Signees
Cole Alexander, RHP/1B, 6-6, 225, Angelina College (Texas)
Logan Gibson, OF/P 5-10, 160, Enochs High (Modesto, Calif.)
Alex Giroux, RHP, 6-5, 185 Clark College
Tobey Jackson, OF, 5-11, 165, Hilo High
Kahiau Schenk, RHP, 6-2, 190 Saint Louis School
Xander Sielken, Inf/RHP, 5-10, 180 Saint Louis School
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HAWAII BASEBALL 2022 SCHEDULE
*-Big West Conference games
Feb. 18: Washington State
Feb. 19: Washington State
Feb. 20: Washington State
Feb. 21: Washington State
Tony Gwynn Classic
At San Diego
Feb. 25: TBA
Feb. 26: TBA
Feb. 27: TBA
Feb. 28: At San Diego State
March 4: Vanderbilt
March 5: Vanderbilt (DH)
March 6: Vanderbilt
March 11: Rutgers
March 12: Rutgers (DH)
March 13: Rutgers
March 18: At Long Beach State*
March 19: At Long Beach State*
March 20: At Long Beach State*
March 25: UC Irvine*
March 26: UC Irvine*
March 27: UC Irvine*
April 1: At UC Santa Barbara*
April 2: At UC Santa Barbara*
April 3: At UC Santa Barbara*
April 4: At USC
April 8: UC Riverside*
April 9: UC Riverside*
April 10: UC Riverside*
April 14: Cal State Bakersfield*
April 15: Cal State Bakersfield*
April 16: Cal State Bakersfield*
April 19: At Fresno State
April 22: At UC Davis
April 23: At UC Davis
April 24: At UC Davis*
April 29: Cal State Fullerton*
April 30: Cal State Fullerton*
May 1: Cal State Fullerton*
May 6: At UNLV
May 7: At UNLV
May 8: At UNLV
May 13: Cal State Northridge*
May 14: Cal State Northridge*
May 15: Cal State Northridge*
May 20: At UC San Diego*
May 21: At UC San Diego*
May 22: At UC San Diego*
May 23: At California Baptist
May 26: Cal Poly*
May 27: Cal Poly*
May 28: Cal Poly*
