Yamauchi earns Academic All-America status

AUSTIN, Texas – Graduating University of Hawai’i at Hilo shortstop Casey Yamauchi capped his collegiate career receiving Academic All-America Third Team honors, as announced Wednesday morning and selected by the College Sports Communicators.

The recent UH-Hilo graduate wrapped up a five-year career putting up a .404 batting average on 63 hits, 29 RBI and six home runs along with 50 runs scored, 23 walks, 23 steals — and a .932 fielding percentage in 179 total chances.

In the process, Yamauchi set several program career records including 240 hits, 147 runs, 49 doubles and 74 steals.

“Every year I just wanted to be better than I was the year before. It just so happens I got to break some records and win awards along the way,” Yamauchi said. “I was really hoping to just make playoffs more than anything, but I’m pretty happy and proud of myself. I didn’t just waste my time. I wanted to be the best person I could possibly be and I think this marks my work ethic.”

At the time of submission, Yamauchi had achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.71 before ultimately finishing at 3.74 with a bachelor’s in each of Kinesiology &Exercise Sciences and Communication.

As a whole, the Division II Academic All-America Teams combined for a 3.81 cumulative GPA.

The Vulcans finished the season at a 25-19 mark and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the first-ever Pacific West Conference postseason tournament.

A hot start to the year garnered national recognition in spending five weeks with a top 25 ranking, reaching as high as No. 13. UH-Hilo also finished at No. 6 in the final NCAA West Region rankings.

Yamauchi was one of just five players from the PacWest Conference who was voted to Academic All-American status.