James Yamasaki has turned into a legitimate ace for the UH-Hilo baseball team, which opens PacWest play on the road against Hawaii Pacific.
The 6-foot, 195-pound freshman right-hander from Shoreline (Wash.) Community College has been nearly flawless in two starts for the Vulcans (9-2), who play a five-game series against the Sharks (6–3), including two PacWest games on Thursday and Friday at Hans L’Orange Park on Oahu.
Yamasaki (1-0, 0.00 ERA in nine innings), a 2019 Saint Francis graduate, fired four innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts against San Diego Christian in a no-decision 5-4 win on Feb. 5.
He made his next start against Minnesota Crookston and pitched five innings of two-hit ball with three walks and six strikeouts in a 6-2 victory on Feb. 10.
“He’s no-nonsense. He just does the job,” coach Kallen Miyataki said. “There’s nothing flashy. He comes right at you. He’s crafty and pretty sneaky. He’s got a good breaking ball. His fastball explodes and tops out at 90 mph. He can carve you up at 86-87 with breaking stuff. We’ve been working quite a bit on pitchability.
“Now, everybody throws hard. When you see that, you start teeing up. The whole idea is to disrupt timing. Up to now, he’s done a great job. He earned the right to be No. 1.”
Assistant coach Garett Yukumoto, who lives on Oahu, was the point recruiter of Yamasaki, who’s majoring in business administration.
“Coach Yuks got him from Shoreline,” Miyataki said. “He’s a Honolulu boy, so it worked out really well for us. He was supposed to have gone to Manoa, but he ended up coming to us. We’re fortunate and blessed.”
Kyle Alcorn (0-0, 6.00 ERA in six innings) will draw the second start. The senior left-hander, from Lakewood, Calif., has given up seven hits and two walks and struck out six with four runs allowed over two starts.
“He’s kept us in games throughout his whole career,” Miyataki said. “Everyone else is behind those two guys. I’m very comfortable with our bullpen.”
Several of the relievers have been beyond brilliant. Sophomore left-hander Jacob Liberta hasn’t allowed a run in 6 1/3 innings. Sophomore right-hander Alden Norquist, a transfer from Merced (Calif.) College, hasn’t given up a run in seven innings. Freshman right-hander Devin Meyer, from San Bruno, Calif., hasn’t surrendered a run in three innings. Senior right-handed closer John Kea (2-1, 2.84 ERA) has two saves in 6 1/3 innings.
The offense is hitting .302 as a team with a .782 OPS while holding opponents to .209 and .555.
No surprise, junior shortstop Casey Yamauchi leads the team with a .463 batting average, a 1.123 OPS, a team-high 11 runs and is 4 for 4 on steals. Junior second baseman Eric Peterson (.433, .967) has been UHH’s Lou Gehrig, taking over for Lucas Sakay (.294, .756). Senior center fielder Brett Komatsu (.424, .912) and senior catcher Jaryn Kanbara (.333, .945) have been solid. HPU transfer and third baseman Joe Gallagher (.268, .811) has provided much-needed power with two homers and nine RBIs. Senior first baseman Kobie Russell (.194, .746) has three homers and a team-high 12 RBIs.
Miyataki believes Gallagher’s presence in the lineup has already helped others.
“He’s always going to be in a tough situation because he’s a big bat for us,” he said. “I don’t expect him to see any good pitches. They’ll pitch around him. That works to the advantage of Kanbara, who is seeing better pitches. Gallagher has played third base really well. He’s a good defensive player.
“Brett has been a good leader for us. He’s comical and funny. He keeps everyone loose, and he’s always working hard. He’s playing within himself. He’s staying in his comfort zone. Casey is Casey. He impresses everybody. We’re very fortunate to have Casey Yamauchi. Peterson has done wonders for us. Sakay is coming around too. He’s always been a clutch guy. We’ll get Mason Campbell back. He was hurt in the Minnesota series. We’ve got reserves who also give their best effort and push the starters. That’s what you want.”