A lineup of things to watch for in the 2011 Rainbows Baseball season

HONOLULU—Following a mostly successful 2010 campaign culminating with a short appearance in the NCAA Regionals, the University of Hawaii baseball team saw a dramatic off-season that included a mass exodus of players to the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The 2011 season begins with a bevy of intriguing issues, some of which are very promising to the UH team’s success and others that may keep Rainbows fans on edge all year long.

Here’s a lineup of things to watch for from the Rainbows in 2011.

1. How does the Rainbows baseball team respond to losing so many players from 2010?

About as quickly as Hawaii was eliminated from its second NCAA tournament in 17 years at the hands of Arizona State, the players started disappearing. Following the team’s loss in Tempe, seven seniors were out of eligibility and four more Rainbows were taken in the Draft. As if that wasn’t enough, factor in the exits of Nick Croce and Derek Brown paired with four recruits who signed with pro teams, the Rainbows have their work cut out for them this season. To help ease the damage, the Rainbows have added 15 new players to the squad including eight pitchers.

2. Who goes behind the plate?

Three of the new 15 players are catchers including Zach McDonell, Garrett Champion, and Santa Ana College transfer David Peterson. Going into the season, Peterson was the projected starter. However, he hasn’t been able to practice because of a tender elbow. If Coach Mike “Trap” Trapasso doesn’t want to go to any of his other new catchers in the event Peterson isn’t able to go, he might lean on third baseman Pi’ikea Kitamura who took some reps behind the plate in the fall.

3. Can Sisto stay hot?

With a pitching staff that has also gone through a lot this off-season in terms of turnover, Matt Sisto has been the mainstay on the mound for the Rainbows. With a strong run at the end of last season and a wonderful summer showing in the Cape Cod league, where he finished with a sub-2.00 ERA, the 6-5 Sisto has easily hurled himself to the top of the rotation. There is no question Coach Trap is going to give the ball to the junior right-hander when the season opens against Oregon.

4. Shoes to fill at shortstop and first base

With the loss of three-year starters Greg Garcia and Kevin MacDonald, Coach Trapasso has his hands full trying to replace the two. Luckily, he found Matt Harrison, a transfer from the University of North Carolina who was granted an exemption by the NCAA to play this season. To step in for MacDonald, fans can look forward to watching designated hitter Jeff Van Doornum at first base this year. Last year, Van Doornum took first team All-Wac honors and should be an even bigger force for the Bows in 2011.

5. The Kolten Wong Show

With a .357 batting average, 89 hits and 40 RBI on top of being named the League MVP of the Cape Cod Baseball League, there is no doubt Wong’s 2010 was one that will go down in UH baseball lore. With a .534 slugging percentage in 2010 to go along with game tying and walk-off homeruns in the opening game of the WAC tournament, Wong was the team’s most electrical player all year. It should be interesting whether or not he can keep up the pace and put on an encore performance. After being tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year, the WAC seems to think he’ll do just fine.

6. The Sandman cometh?

With 12 saves, a perfect 4-0 record and a team low 1.64 ERA, Linsky was one of the top closers in the nation last season. His performance in the WAC Championship versus Fresno State, in which he pitched two shutout innings for the save, was definitely one worth writing home about and it will be exciting to watch whether or not he’ll be able to continue to put teams to sleep in crunch time throughout 2011.

7. Will Les Murakami Stadium be the place where giants fall?

With series’ against nationally ranked non-conference opponents like sixth-ranked Texas, eighth-ranked Cal State Fullerton, and a season opener against #12 Oregon, the Rainbows have the opportunity to shock the nation and slay some big time opponents. A determined Hawaii squad mixed with a strong crowd can make Les Murakami Stadium a loud and dangerous place to be. Hey, it can happen. We’ve seen it in football many times with big name schools traveling long distances to play a supposed “weak” Hawaii team. Anything can happen in Manoa.

8. Strong showing in the WAC?

Although the Rainbows pulled through and won their first WAC tournament title in 18 years, it shouldn’t be ignored that the team went 12-12 in regular season conference play and was mediocre against conference foes like Fresno State, Nevada, and Louisiana Tech. Picked to finish second in the WAC this year to Fresno State, the team is projected to put together a lot of conference wins.

Hopefully, the team is able to win the WAC regular season title and won’t have to depend on a little bit of luck and some postseason tournament heroics. Thinking ahead to the future, a dominant WAC performance from the Bows would also instill some fear into our future Big West opponents in 2012 and show Hawaii isn’t just good for Spam and Pineapple.

9. NCAA hana hou?

With their first NCAA tournament appearance in 18 years, the Bows hands down had a tremendous year in 2010. Although the team was ousted by top ranked Arizona State, the fact that the team even got there was a surprise.  Heck, with a .500 record in WAC play, it can probably be said that not even the team expected to get as far as they did.  But 2011 is upon us and although Coach Trap has a lot of holes to fill, Rainbows Baseball fans have a lot to be excited about.

With returning stalemates like Wong, Van Doorum, Sisto, and Linsky, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Coach Trapasso can do something UH has never done—make back-to-back NCAA appearances and not just be happy to be there, but take the cake and shock the nation.