Rainbows fell just short after second-half surge

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Left for dead at the halfway point, the Hawaii baseball team came close to pulling off a second-half stunner.

The Rainbows won 20 of 30 games after the midway point of the season and found themselves 12 outs away from playing for the Western Athletic Conference championship.

Injuries to pitching ace Jared Alexander and freshman Sean Montplaisir, a catalyst in the 'Bows' turnaround that began April 1, kept Hawaii from realizing its full potential.

Fifth-year senior Jon Hee and All-WAC honoree Brandon Haislet graduate, but a talented crop of freshmen who were thrown to the wolves this season return.

With Alexander, Alex Bates and six offensive starters who played at least 30 games returning, the outlook for the Rainbows looks pretty promising heading into next season.

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After a four-game sweep at Sacramento State dropped Hawaii to last place in the Western Athletic Conference, Rainbows baseball coach Mike Trapasso might have been the only believer in his team left.

"I've had no doubts from the get-go," Trapasso said after the 'Bows dropped a season-high 10 games under .500 at the end of March. "We've got guys that are good players. If we can just stay with it, we can make the second half as good as the first half was bad."

At that point, the Rainbows were struggling across the board.

An experienced lineup that was supposed to make up for a young pitching staff was near the bottom of the conference in hitting.

First baseman Kevin Macdonald and third baseman Vinnie Catricala, who started the season hitting cleanup, saw their averages plummet below .240.

Jared Alexander had stepped up as the surprise ace of the staff, but that was offset by the struggles of junior Matt Daly and the absence of junior college transfer Alex Bates.

Bates hadn't thrown a pitch all season due to lingering elbow problems and Daly wound up issuing 65 walks in 81 innings.

Newcomers Alex Capaul and Josh Slaats, who combined for 12 of 30 starts by Rainbow pitchers without prior starting experience, had yet to win a game.

On top of all that, the Rainbows had faced seven teams that are playing in this week's NCAA tournament.

The outlook seemed bleak for the 'Bows, who hadn't had a losing season since 2002, but Trapasso never lost sight of what they were working toward.

"It was probably over-scheduling on my part early," Trapasso said. "But it got our young guys to understand that this is what the competition was like. It got our guys ready for the second half and for WAC play and obviously going into next year understanding what it's going to take to perform at that level."

After the sweep at Sacramento State, Trapasso decided to switch things up. Freshman Sean Montplaisir took over the leadoff spot and senior Jon Hee moved from first to third in the order as Trapasso tried to inject some speed into his lineup.

Greg Garcia, who had been out with a sprained ankle, returned and moved to second base while Hee took over at short.

The moves paid off as Hawaii went on to win 17 of its next 25 games. A sweep of Nevada by San Jose State on the final weekend of the season pushed the 'Bows, once the WAC bottom feeders, into second place heading into the conference tournament.

"If anything, I'm most impressed with our guys and how they finished out the season and finished in second place in the league," Trapasso said.

It's easy to play the "what if" game, but all season Trapasso stressed he'd have his team in position to make a run in the tournament by season's end.

He did exactly that, as the 'Bows led top-seeded Fresno State 3-1 in the sixth inning of a game where a win would have put the 'Bows one win away from a WAC championship.

It didn't work out that way, but for the 'Bows to be in that spot, especially without Alexander, Bates, Capaul and Montplaisir, who all had their seasons cut short by injuries, it's hard not to think what could have been had they been able to stay healthy.

"The disappointing thing was we were a little short-handed in the (WAC) tournament," Trapasso said. "I would have loved to see what we could have done had we had our pitchers at full strength."

Hawaii will have to replace key seniors in Hee, Brandon Haislet, Josh Schneider, Nick Rhodes and Derek DuPree, who each provided valuable contributions in their final seasons.

Daly might be done at UH. He's expected to get picked in next week's MLB draft, and catcher Landon Hernandez also has a shot at getting selected.

However, the Rainbows will return a much deeper and experienced pitching staff and a lineup that features six returnees who started at least 30 games.

Hawaii will also blend in a talented recruiting class that includes pitching standout Lenny Linsky and infielder Jesse Moore as well as Kamehameha-Hawaii's Kolten Wong and former Iolani standout Christian Johnson.