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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, June 6, 2003

Two UH freshmen get national honor

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

MATT INOUYE
Three players with ties to Hawai'i were named to the Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America team.

University of Hawai'i players Matt Inouye and Isaac Omura, as well as Kamehameha graduate Zach McAngus of Air Force, were selected for the bat company-sponsored honors by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

Inouye was among 13 outfielders named. The Mid-Pacific Institute graduate led all UH regulars with a .338 batting average. He hit 10 doubles, two triples and two home runs, scored 26 runs and drove in 24. Inouye will play for Mat-Su of the Alaska Baseball League.

Omura and McAngus were among five second basemen selected.

Omura, also an MPI graduate, batted .301 with 20 runs, 28 RBIs, 10 doubles, two triples and a home run.

"I made sure that I worked hard so that I could compete at the collegiate level," said Omura of his success after a stellar high school career for the Owls.

Omura is playing for Santa Barbara in the California Coastal League.

ISAAC OMURA
"I'm excited for them," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "It's a great thing. It just shows all the hard work they put in the last year has paid off. It's great for them and great for the program. It continues to show we're heading in the right direction."

McAngus, who got to play here when the Falcons played in the Rainbow Easter tournament, batted .352 with nine doubles, four home runs and 21 RBIs.

But McAngus, who returned home Wednesday night, said he has withdrawn from the academy and is looking to transfer to another Division I school. He said he is inquiring at UH and Washington State. Neither school can approach him until Air Force grants him his release, which he expects.

Air Force has a policy that allows students to withdraw without any commitment to the service before entering their junior year.

McAngus will be playing for the Island Movers summer league team.

DeRenne picked up: Keoni DeRenne (Iolani '97) has signed with the New York Yankees and will report to the Double-A Trenton (N.J.) Thunder. He will meet the team today in Erie, Pa., where the Thunder is scheduled to play.

DeRenne, who was released by the Atlanta Braves while at the club's Double-A club at Greenville (S.C.) about a month ago, said he understands that his chances of advancement with the talent-rich Yankees aren't good, just as it was with the Braves, who are loaded with young infielders.

"I'm moving from one great organization to another," he said. "But for me right now, I just want to get out and play."

He said he turned down offers earlier from Montreal and Philadelphia, but each wanted to send him to Single-A.

DeRenne, drafted and signed by the Braves in 2000 out of the University of Arizona, said he will share time at second base and shortstop. He was hitting .146 in 23 games when he was released.

Komine hot: Oakland Athletics' farmhand Shane Komine (Kalani '98), a right-hander for Double-A Midland (Texas), pitched a one-hitter Wednesday night in a 2-0 win over Wichita in a Texas League game.

Komine (2-1, 2.28 ERA in four starts) allowed a sixth-inning single, a walk and a hit batsman while striking out seven.

Komine, a ninth-round pick out of Nebraska in 2002, was promoted from low class A Kane County (Geneva, Ill.) on May 19.