Trapasso signs Mid-Pac's Bauer
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
It didn't take long for new University of Hawai'i baseball coach Mike Trapasso to land his first recruit for his debut season.
Advertiser library photo • May 2001
Mid-Pacific Institute all-state pitcher Ricky Bauer said yesterday that he will sign with the Rainbows. The 6-foot-2, 165-pound right-hander was 6-2 with a 1.69 earned run average in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. He also was being recruited by California-Irvine.
Mid-Pacific graduate Ricky Bauer was drafted in the 39th round by the Boston Red Sox earlier this month.
"I'm happy to stay home," Bauer said. "UH was my first choice. I'm just happy to play for them now."
Bauer was drafted in the 39th-round by the Boston Red Sox earlier this month.
Bauer said he and his parents went to meet Trapasso at Murphy's Bar & Grill when the coach was the guest of a radio show.
"I knew he was a pitching coach, so I just wanted to go down and meet him," Bauer said.
Bauer also had a partial offer from Cal-Irvine, which is reviving its program under coach John Savage. Savage was in Hawai'i earlier this month scouting at the annual Sugar Mill Classic senior all-star game at Hans L'Orange Park.
Bauer was told he would be used as a starting pitcher. He will fill a vacancy left by junior right-hander Jeff Coleman, who signed with the Oakland Athletics after he was drafted in the 21st round. Starting pitchers Sean Yamashita and Chad Giannetti, both right-handers, will return for the 2002 season.
Bauer's commitment comes less than a month into Trapasso's tenure as successor to the retired Les Murakami.
