Former UH-Hilo baseball standout Phil Steering left the Vulcans vowing to pursue a pro career until everyone “told me no.”
That hasn’t happened yet, and in the meantime he’s heard a sweeter sound: yes.
Steering will play for the Hamburg Stealers in a league that will have him playing against the likes of the Cologne Cardinals, the Bremen Dockers and the Berlin Flamingos during a season runs from April through September.
Steering will depart for Hamburg in March.
“I am extremely grateful that the Stealers are giving me an opportunity to continue to do what I love,” Steering said in a school release. “I am eager and excited to travel to foreign places and experience different cultures. To be able to do it while playing baseball is the experience of a lifetime.”
The Southern California native, who holds the Vulcan school record for home runs in a season (10) and career (18), will play his customary first base and will also catch for the Stealers.
Steering hit .421 his junior season and .363 last year. He was a second-team all-Pacific West Conference selection and a first team all-region academic honoree, carrying a 3.72 grade point average and majoring in business.
Arakawa honored: Midfielder Tiera Arakawa was named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II all-West Region team.
Arakawa, a senior from Maui, was a third-team selection on the squad, only the fourth Vulcan ever to earn all-region laurels—and the first in more than 10 years.
Arakawa, who was also named to the all-Pacific West first team last month, finished her career with 27 points (sixth best on UHH all-time list), 11 goals (also sixth) and five assists (eighth). She had three goals and four assists this year and was second on the Vulcans in minutes played with 1,427.
The Vulcans finished 10-4-2 in 2018 and tied for second place in the PacWest with a 7-3-1 record. Conference champion Point Loma had five players named to the United Soccer Coaches team, but Arakawa was the only other player from the PacWest selected to the squad.
“This is a tremendous honor for Tiera,” coach Gene Okamura said in a release. “She has been a pillar of our team and has been a huge part of building this program. It is a well-deserved accolade for her.”
Frosh fulfillment: Jalen Thompson was been named the Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Week for men’s basketball, the league announced Dec. 20
The 6-foot-3 guard had 15 points against Holy Names, hitting a trio of three-pointers and nailing six-of-eight free throw attempts. He also had three assists in the narrow loss to the Hawks. Three nights previous, the West Linn, Ore., native had seven points and was 2-of-2 behind the arch against regionally-ranked Western Oregon.
On the season, Thompson is tied for second on the Vulcans with 12 3-pointers and is averaging 6.4 points a game.
UH-Hilo is on break for the holidays, resuming play on Dec. 31 at Dominican.