N.M. catcher resting after long season

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

How does it feel to be the catcher for pitchers who give up nine runs and 13 hits a game and allow more than four of every 10 batters to reach base?

"It doesn't bother you at the time," says Scott Tajima, starting catcher for the University of New Mexico. "There is so much adrenaline; you are dying to win.

"But you pay for it the next day."

Tajima, a 1998 Iolani graduate from Manoa, caught every batter of a 15-inning game on Feb. 9, but that score was only 4-3.

"I'd rather play when you score a lot than a 1-0 game; there's more excitement," he said.

Doubleheaders? "Those aren't fun," Tajima said. "Your legs are still pretty warm at the start of the second game, but you start dragging later on."

"That's when your mentality comes into play," Tajima said. "Your off-season training gets you ready."

But he is not doing any "off-season training" this summer. "I'm resting my legs," Tajima said.

After a horrible start at the plate, .194 after 11 games, Tajima battled back to as high as .333 before sliding to a final .309 batting average.

"I was seeing a lot of breaking balls in nonconference games," he said. "I learned to hit the fast ball when I got it."

Tajima has one more year of eligibility. He will graduate in communications with a biology minor and head to dental school, probably at Missouri-Kansas City, he said.

Dentists are on their feet a lot, too.

• Siskiyous (Calif.) JC

Conference batting champion and all-conference outfielder Mark Soriano (Leilehua '00) has signed with New Mexico Highlands. Swift Cheyne Todani (Leilehua '01), a second-team all-conference second baseman, will transfer to the College of Southern Idaho, a junior college which offers baseball scholarships.