The UH-Hilo and Hawaii Pacific baseball teams know each other so well, which happens when you play 22 times like the two did last season.
The Vulcans went 14-9 against the Sharks, and even better knocked them out of the postseason.
UHH (22-13, 11-11 PacWest) and HPU (17-16, 11-11) play a five-game series with the first two counting as PacWest games. The series opens at 6 p.m. Friday at Wong Stadium.
Senior left-hander Kyle Alcoran (1-2, 3.52 ERA) draws the Game 1 start, and sophomore right-hander Christian DeJesus (2-3, 6.15 ERA) gets the Game 2 start at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
“Alcorn was beaten up a lot up on the mainland,” coach Kallen Miyataki said. “He was doing the best that he can. He’s rested, and we used him a lot on the mainland. Christian has been coming on strong. We’re confident.”
So far, the Vulcans are 2-2 against the Sharks with both losses counting as PacWest setbacks. Both are tied for fifth in the standings.
“The last two times, we made a lot of errors, and that killed us,” Miyataki said. “If we can limit our errors, we’ll be fine.”
Shortstop Casey Yamauchi (.399 batting average) continues to lead the offense. Outfielders Mason Campbell (.343) and Brett Komatsu (.307), Joe Gallagher (.367), and Eric Peterson (.326) have been consistent.
“Our team is starting to come together. We always have a tight-knit team, and we definitely have the talent,” Yamauchi said. “In all my years, this is probably the most talented team I have played with, but we just haven’t peaked as a team yet.
“We have a great group of seniors that are leading the younger guys who are receiving opportunities and are starting to come up big when called upon. Ryan Cho (.291) is starting to heat up and will definitely be huge for us because when he hits like he is capable of he could be the best hitter in the PacWest.”
That’s just like Yamauchi pointing out others instead of himself. He leads the PacWest in batting average. Gallagher is fourth and Campbell 15th.
In his last six games, Cho, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore first baseman is batting .400 (8 for 20) with four RBIs.
Miyataki knows he got a bargain when he recruited the 5-9, 160-pound 2018 Waiakea graduate.
“He’s just a competitor. He has a good approach,” he said. “The key is the approach, to hit at the right place at the right time, and he pulls the trigger. Plus he has talent.
“If he were bigger, he wouldn’t be in Hilo. It’s good that he got overlooked out of high school.”
Yamauchi has a chance to shatter Michael Higa’s .415 batting average. Higa did that against Division I competition in 2008. No one else has ever hit .400.
“All the credit should go to coach Jensen (Sato) and coach Yuks (Garett Yukumoto). Coach Jensen puts in all the time and effort with me whenever he has time,” Yamauchi said. “Whenever coach Yuks is in town, the two work together to fine tun everything. As far as the key, I think the biggest thing that helps me is my dad (Wayne) repeatedly telling me to ‘hit the ball hard any place,’ meaning just square it up and if it falls it falls.
“I usually try to avoid knowing my stats, so I can keep a team-oriented approach and either get on or do a job by any means for the boys, and so far it has been working.”
Here are a few stats to look at: Yamauchi has the best plate discipline on the team. In 138 at-bats, he’s struck out only four times. He has a .437 on-base percentage and is 21 of 23 on steal attempts.
To show that talent comes in all sizes, Cole Kashimoto, a 5-3 sophomore outfielder, is eighth with a .355 batting average for the Sharks, who are 74 for 91 in steal attempts, an 81% rate.
But best of all for Yamauchi is that he’s hitting the books, holding a 3.7 GPA.
“School has always been coach Kal’s No. 1 priority for us. Getting a degree is what we are here for, and baseball is the reward,” he said. “After this semester, I will be six classes away from a degree in both Kinesiology and Communications and three classes away from a minor in Business.
“Hopefully, I can maintain or raise my 3.7 so my mom (Agnes) will be happy.”
