What the University of Hawaii infield is lacking in depth is made up for with experience.
The top four hitters from last season return in 2016 and all help make up a potentially formidable group of infielders at the plate.
The only newcomer around the diamond is at second base, but the UH coaching staff isn’t too worried about junior-college transfer Josh Rojas.
Rojas, who hit .333 with eight homers, nine doubles, six triples and 39 RBIs as a junior at Paradise Valley Community College, was so good in the California Collegiate League last summer that he was picked by the Cotuit Kettleers in the prestigious Cape Cod League for the playoffs.
Perfect Game selected him to their summer collegiate All-America second team.
“I was fortunate to do well,” Rojas said. “I know I put up some good numbers and I might not put up those same exact numbers here, but I’m working hard and ready to get things going.”
Rojas should form a solid double-play combination with returning shortstop Jacob Sheldon-Collins, who hit a team-leading .295 as a junior.
The depth in the infield took a hit when JJ Kitaoka quit the team in January, but sophomore Johnny Weeks has had an impressive spring campaign.
Weeks hit .247 in 22 starts as a freshman. He replaced Kitaoka at third base in early May and UH won the first six games he started on the way to finishing .500 in Big West play for the first time.
“I feel like as a group we came together there at the end and that’s what we need to do this year,” Weeks said.
Catcher Chayce Ka’aua caught 46 of the team’s 53 games behind the plate and still managed to hit .260 with nine doubles and 20 runs scored. Now close to 200 pounds after bulking up in the offseason, Ka’aua should benefit from sharing time behind the plate with incoming freshman Kekai Rios, who could rotate with Ka’aua behind the plate on a game-by-game basis.
“I think you could see that happen early on,” Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “We’ve seen all fall the two of them push each other and make each other better, and so we feel very comfortable with what we have at that position.”
One player who won’t worry about platooning is first baseman Eric Ramirez, ranked by Baseball America as the eighth-best draft prospect for 2017 in the Big West.
Ramirez hit .270 with 29 RBIs as a freshman, but struggled with a back injury for the second part of the season. He says he’s fully healthy now.
“We have more potential in the lineup than we did last year,” Ramirez said. “I feel more comfortable up (at the plate) now and I’ve made some adjustments getting the foot down and squaring the ball up. (The power) will come.”
