Up-and-coming coaches to meet in UH-Irvine series
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
When Hawai'i plays host to UC Irvine in a three-game series starting Friday, two rising coaches in the collegiate ranks will meet.
A year ago, Baseball America ranked UH's Mike Trapasso as the top assistant who would be the best candidate for a head coaching job at a major program.
The publication also tabbed Irvine's John Savage the top head coach among candidates who were either rising stars as assistants or had proved they could make their programs regional contenders.
"It will be an interesting series," Trapasso said. "John is someone I have a great deal of respect for. He's done a great job already."
Like Trapasso, this is Savage's first year as head coach. Savage spent the five previous seasons as an assistant at USC. Like Trapasso, he earned a reputation as a solid pitching coach and top-notch recruiter.
Savage was hired to revive baseball at Irvine, which dropped the sport after the 1992 season, by a baseball-friendly athletic director, Dan Guerrero, who played at UCLA. Unlike Trapasso, who had little time to recruit because he was hired in May 2001, Savage signed on July 2000, giving himself 1 1/2 years to recruit and literally build the program from scratch.
"(Guerrero) knew what he was doing when he wanted to bring back baseball," said Savage in a telephone interview. "It's nice to talk to a guy in such a high level of administration. There were no surprises (when I got here). That's the nice thing about it."
Like the UH job, the Irvine opening drew more than 100 applicants. The Southern California area, a hot bed for recruiting, made it attractive. It is why, even before the Anteaters had their stadium completed, Irvine had the eighth-best recruiting class last year. The team is composed of 24 freshmen and 12 junior college transfers. Two starting pitchers — Paul French (1-2, 6.04) and Sean Tracey (2-1, 2.51) — are considered pro prospects.
In fact, Savage was here in May recruiting. He landed Punahou left-hander Reid Matsushima, a 2000 all-state selection as a junior. Savage said Matsushima is likely to redshirt this season.
"He's gotten better mechanically," Savage said. "He throws three pitches for strikes. He's got a chance to be our left-hander out of the bullpen in the future."
Savage said he will continue to recruit here.
"Hawai'i always produces high level Division I players," he said. "Sometimes they get missed (locally) and maybe end up in a JC in California. Irvine's a pretty attractive place. We're right on the beach and the climate is nice."
Baseball America projects the Anteaters to land one of the three NCAA Tournament berths from the Big West Conference. The Anteaters are off to an 8-8 start, including taking 2 of 3 from Brigham Young, which won 2 of 3 from UH last week.
Trapasso said he had applied at other programs before UH, but Irvine wasn't one of them. He said he figured Irvine was looking for someone from the West Coast and anticipated Savage or then-Florida coach Andy Lopez (who also coached at Pepperdine) would get the job. (Lopez ended up at Arizona.)
As for whether Savage would have been interested in the UH job had he still been an assistant, Savage declined comment.
He did say the UH job was one of the biggest openings in the country.
"You can attract a lot of players, the facilities are one of the nicest in the country and the coaching staff now is attractive to the student-athlete," Savage said. "I really believe (Trapasso) will get things going in the right direction."
Notes: Had John Savage still been an assistant last year, he would have ranked ahead of Mike Trapasso in the top assistants listing in Baseball America, according to senior writer John Manuel, who covers the colleges for the publication ... The Anteaters play host to Michigan today and visit Pepperdine tomorrow before arriving here Thursday.
