Oh, what could have been. But the University of Hawaii dream team led by incoming diamond dandies is just that, fantasy baseball.
The dominoes started falling early, and many of these studs were expected to go pro. Who can blame them? If a guy turns down a high-six- or seven-figure signing bonus, you have to figure he’s not bright enough for college anyway.
Kolten Wong only came to UH because MLB whiffed on him, the Twins not drafting him until the 16th round out of Kamehameha-Hawaii. Even with an enhanced bonus offer for that round, Wong made a great decision — for himself, as well as UH fans — to be true to his school, and three years later was picked in the first round.
Maybe the scouts learned their lesson from that, keeping close eyes on prospects who committed to become Rainbow Warriors and drafting them high enough to tender offers they couldn’t refuse.
The loss of the latest signee to go pro, Iolana Akau to the A’s in the 20th round, hurts UH the most. The others basically had to go, but although we hear he was offered a nice bonus for his slot, Akau was borderline and had a decision to make.
Also, he plays the most important position on a baseball team. Akau is touted as the best defensive catcher coming out of high school in the western United States this year, and that really means something, since last we checked California is still on the Pacific coast.
A great catcher doesn’t just throw guys out trying to steal and stop pitches from going to the backstop. He stops them from going over the fence by keeping young pitchers cool. He makes your entire staff and your entire defense better, with his smarts and savvy. During the game, he’s the on-field extension of the coach.
SPEAKING OF extensions and coaches, Mike Trapasso heads into the last year of his current contract. The way the new athletic director, Ben Jay, speaks, Trapasso gets at least somewhat of a pass on the just-completed 16-35 disaster of a season. This is because of all the pitching injuries, but also because Jay is just a few months on the job.
Trapasso is vastly experienced in the frustrating aspects of college baseball recruiting, so let’s see how his Plan B recruits work out before totally writing him off and beginning the search for a new head coach.
With that being said, dropping his one full-time assistant with strong local ties, Chad Konishi, could not have helped when it came down to final decision time for Akau.
Now the Rainbows need a batting coach. I’d say former UH star Vern Ramie — who was recently let go at Kamehameha in another head-scratcher — would be a perfect fit. But after the way Konishi was treated, it may be hard to secure a veteran local assistant, especially since it might be just a one-year job.
In a perfect world, Konishi would now end up head coach at Kamehameha and Ramie would become the UH batting coach. But, like the superstar recruiting class, that’s just fantasy baseball.
UH will have to rebound strongly in 2014 without the brightest lights of the class that got away for Trapasso to keep his job.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.
