FRISCO, Texas » Being teammates is nothing new for Greg Garcia and Kolten Wong. After all, both played baseball at the University of Hawaii in 2009 and 2010 before Garcia went in the seventh round of the June 2010 amateur draft to St. Louis and headed to pro ball.

Wong joined him in the Cardinals organization last summer after going 22nd overall in the draft. Now these UH products are teammates again with the Springfield Cardinals of the Double-A Texas League. Garcia starts at shortstop, while Wong, the organization’s No. 5 prospect, starts at second base. Besides sharing an apartment, they are also roommates on the road.

"It’s been a blast so far," Garcia said. "It is like a college atmosphere here. We have that comfort level playing up the middle together. He’s a guy I can go to if I’ve got some questions because I feel comfortable with him."

His fellow ex-Rainbow agrees.

"It’s sweet, just to have Greg around; he’s someone I can always talk to and we can relate," Wong said. "We’ve been together for so long. To have him as our shortstop, it’s good and it’s comforting at the same time."

Springfield manager Mike Shildt knows Garcia well after managing him in 2010 with Johnson City, and little has changed since then.

"Greg’s a baseball player. He’s got a feel for the game, grew up around the game," Shildt said. "He’s a good competitor, takes good at-bats. He’s just a gamer who finds a way to get things done."

Shildt hasn’t been managing Wong very long, but is impressed with the skill-set the 21-year-old second baseman brings to his club

"First thing that sticks out about Kolten is his desire to do well. He obviously has ability, but he’s conscientious and looking to improve every day," Shildt said. "He takes his game seriously, wants to do well. I just appreciate the way he goes about his business."

Garcia split 2011 between Low Single-A Quad Cities, where he was a Midwest League All-Star, and High Single-A West Palm Beach, where he hit. 290 in 59 games. But as good as the competition was in the Florida State League, he realizes it’s even better in Double-A.

"I guess what I’ve noticed so far is that everyone’s got good stuff. They’ve got two- and three-pitch command," he said. "I also noticed that when the hitters get the mistake, they do something with it."

Wong also played for Quad Cities in 2011, spending 47 games there after signing with the Cardinals, hitting .335 with five home runs and 25 RBIs. He has also noticed a higher caliber of pitching in the Texas League.

"The biggest difference for me so far was realizing the pitchers up here can throw every pitch for a strike," he said. "They’re not mostly fastball pitchers. They can throw their off-speed or everything for a strike. They throw everything very well."

No matter whether they’re at home or on the road, one subject that frequently comes up is their common roots from the Aloha State.

"It’s definitely an honor. There’s some pride when somebody asked you where you went to school and you say the University of Hawaii," Garcia said. "I take pride in that. It was a great university. The coaching staff with Coach (Mike Trapasso) there is awesome and the program is becoming a pretty well-known program."

Wong concurs but said he also wants to join another fairly exclusive group, of players from the state who are now in the majors.

"It’s a big honor. Brandon League, Shane (Victorino) and Kurt Suzuki, they’re all really, really looked up to in Hawaii," he said. "For me to be close to where they are, it’s a humbling experience and it’s also really exciting to know I could be at their level sometime."