Four from Hawai'i named all-stars
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Four players with ties to Hawai'i will play in their respective minor league all-star games today and tomorrow.
In the Double-A Southern League, former Kamehameha all-state catcher Dane Sardinha and former University of Hawai'i outfielder Darren Blakely will be teammates for the West squad. Sardinha plays for Chattanooga (Tenn.) and Blakely for Mobile (Ala.).
The game is tomorrow at Smokies Park in Tennessee.
Sardinha signed with the Cincinnati Reds after being selected in the second round of the 2000 draft out of Pepperdine as a junior. He was batting .251 with 17 doubles, three home runs and 33 RBIs for the Lookouts as of Sunday.
Blakely, in the San Diego Padres organization, was drafted and signed by the Anaheim Angels, who took him in the fifth round after his junior season at UH. He is hitting .238 with 36 RBIs and 36 runs for the Bears.
Managers and media selected the Southern League's all-stars.
In the Single-A Midwest League game today in Lansing, Mich., former Kamehameha pitcher Kahi Ka'anoi and former Mid-Pacific Institute shortstop Rex Rundgren will be on the league's West squad.
Ka'anoi, drafted in the seventh round by the Kansas City Royals in 2000, is 1-5 with a 4.29 earned run average. In 79á innings, he has 53 strikeouts and 23 walks.
Rundgren, picked in the 11th round by the Florida Marlins in the 2001 draft out of Sacramento City junior college, is batting .186.
Managers and coaches selected the Midwest League's all-stars.
Royal treatment: Iolani School all-state first baseman Micah Kila Ka'aihue said he will be going to Kansas City this week to resume negotiations with Royals personnel.
The Royals picked Ka'aihue in the 15th round of the annual Major League Baseball first-year player draft.
Ka'aihue said he will meet with Royals scouting director Deric Ladnier. Ka'aihue's advisor is Danny Horwits, of the Beverly Hills Sports Council. Horwits represents a number of Hawai'i players, including Colorado Rockies outfielder Benny Agbayani.
Ka'aihue signed a letter of intent in November to play at the University of Nebraska.
So far, the only recently drafted players with Hawai'i ties to sign are former Kamehameha infielder Duke Sardinha, a 19th-round pick out of Pepperdine by Colorado, and former Hawai'i catcher Grady Symonds, a 39th-round pick by Arizona.
Eldredge inquires: Brigham Young assistant David "Boy" Eldredge said he has inquired about the assistant position on the University of Hawai'i baseball team that became vacant with the resignation of Josh Sorge.
Eldredge said he had interviewed for an assistant job when UH coach Mike Trapasso was hired last summer. Eldredge, a former head coach at Hawai'i Pacific University, said he submitted an updated resume last week.
The 1979 Punahou School graduate said in a telephone interview yesterday from Utah that while his goal is to become a head coach, "if I'm going to wait, I would rather be at home."
Eldredge is BYU's recruiting coordinator and is in charge of hitting, catching and base running.
Trapasso said he is still interviewing candidates, and declined further comment.
