Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso has signed 10 players during the early signing period for the class of 2015.
Six of the 10 who will join the Rainbow Warriors next fall are from junior colleges, including former Kailua High standout Eli Davidann.
Davidann, a two-way player for the Surfriders, will be brought in as a pitcher from Feather River (Calif.) College.
Davidann was second-team All-State as a senior in high school, hitting .467 with 19 RBIs while going 2-0 on the mound with 20 strikeouts in 18 innings.
"At 6-5, he’s just beginning to realize his potential," said Trapasso, who thinks he could be in the low 90s on his fastball by next year.
In addition to the six junior-college transfers, four high school players signed, including Hilo’s Jodd Carter.
Carter, a 5-foot-9 outfielder, led the Vikings to a BIIF championship last season and hit .714 (5-for-7) with two doubles, a triple, and four RBIs in two state-tournament games.
Hawaii lost five recruits to the draft last year and will deal with that again with this class, especially with some of the JC arms.
"The way we look at it is we’re not going to sign below-average players simply because they won’t get drafted," Trapasso said. "You have to roll the dice. That’s the thing about college baseball, it’s high risk, high reward."
One of the higher-profile commits is Rio Mesa (Calif.) High first baseman Eric Ramirez, a left-handed hitter who Trapasso says "has the ability to hit in the middle of our lineup as a freshman."
According to Baseball America’s Aaron Fitt, Ramirez had a two-strike hit on a tough breaking ball and worked a 10- to 12-pitch walk at the Jesse Flores Memorial All-Star Game earlier this month in Compton, Calif.
He’s also an above-average defender, according to a scout at the Area Code Games.
Another promising recruit is Ferris (Wash.) High’s Alex Jondal, a 6-foot-4 catcher who plays three sports in high school.
Jondal was named All-Greater Spokane League as a junior and is considered one of the top 50 Northwest baseball prospects.
Outfielder Fred Williams (5-11, 185), who hit .492 with seven doubles and two triples as a junior at Benicia (Calif.) High, is another left-handed hitter.
Five of the six junior-college signees are pitchers, including Cosumnes River (Calif.) two-way player Josh Pigg.
Pigg was a 28th-round draft pick out of Franklin (Calif.) High in 2012 and could double as an outfielder for the Rainbow Warriors.
Right-hander Tyler Brashears (6-2, 175) was 8-3 with a 2.28 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 86 innings last season at Saddleback (Calif.) College, and lefty Matt Valencia (6-1, 210) went 4-2 with a 2.59 ERA at San Joaquin Delta (Calif.) College.
Right-hander Luke Eubank (6-1, 190) went 3-4 with a 2.89 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 46 innings at Western Nevada College and was named to the California Collegiate League first team this past summer. Eubank will pitch at Oxnard College this season before enrolling at UH.
"These guys all have big arms, which is what we were looking for," Trapasso said.
UH will lose senior pitchers Matt Cooper and Scott Kuzminsky to graduation, but may also have to replace lefties Scott Squier, Jarrett Arakawa and Andrew Jones, who are all potential drafts if they can stay healthy.
Hawaii also may have a found a replacement for senior shortstop Austin Wobrock in Iowa Western C.C. infielder Jacob Sheldon-Collins, who is originally from Australia and hit .371 with 10 stolen bases last year.
Current Saint Louis senior Devan Stubblefield, who committed to a football scholarship that he will sign in February, will also attempt to play baseball.
2015 UH BASEBALL SIGNEES |
NAME |
POS. |
HT. |
SCHOOL |
Tyler Brashears |
RHP |
6-2 |
Saddleback (Calif.) J.C. |
Jodd Carter |
OF |
5-9 |
Hilo H.S. |
Eli Davidann |
RHP |
6-5 |
Feather River (Calif.) C.C. |
Luke Eubank |
RHP |
6-1 |
Oxnard (Calif.) C.C. |
Alex Jondal |
C |
6-4 |
Ferris (Wash.) H.S. |
Josh Pigg |
RHP/OF |
6-2 |
Cosumnes River (Calif.) C.C. |
Eric Ramirez |
1B |
6-0 |
Rio Mesa (Calif.) H.S. |
Jacob Sheldon-Collins |
INF |
5-11 |
Iowa Western C.C. |
Matt Valencia |
LHP |
6-1 |
San Joaquin Delta (Calif.) C.C. |
Fred Williams |
OF |
5-11 |
Benicia (Calif.) H.S. |