Konishi has 'Bows well armed this season
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
Curiously, it will be "Chad Konishi Day" when the University of Hawai'i baseball team plays at the University of San Francisco tomorrow.
Even for someone fondly remembered as a former USF assistant, how often is the visiting team's pitching coach given a "day" in his honor and invited to throw out the first pitch?
But, then, it has so far been quite the season of surprises for Konishi and UH.
For not only are the Rainbows a remarkable 10-3 and off to their best start in four seasons, but their pitching staff has been the most surprising contributor.
That the Rainbows might hit better than their .253 batting average of last season was expected with a new coach and revamped lineup. But, really, who imagined that even at this early date — and more about that later — the Rainbows would have the lowest earned run average among Western Athletic Conference members?
Yet, here the Rainbows are with a 2.62 earned run average, a figure less than half of the 5.77 millstone they hauled around last year.
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Indeed, UH has been without the services of two highly touted junior college transfers, Justin Azze (ineligibility) and Colby Summer (tendinitis), who were projected no worse than the second and third starters in the rotation.
They have filled in around the void with a reliance on freshmen. Five freshmen have pitched for UH this year, four of them — Guy McDowell, Rich Olsen, Mike Peck and Keahi Rawlins — fairly extensively.
Even with a reliance on youth, the Rainbows have the best walks-to-innings pitched ratio among WAC teams with just one bases on balls every 4.5 innings and are one save short of last year's season total of four.
Of course, there is still three-quarters of the schedule to be played and the days of playing UH-Hilo are but a fond memory. The meat of the schedule is upcoming with a series at Fresno State beginning Friday and Rice lurking next week.
Not until tomorrow, when they play at USF, will the Rainbows have set foot on a hitter-friendly diamond or have to contend with hostile crowds and road strike zones.
If UH pitching continues to hold up its end, who knows, Konishi might even get a "day" here, too.
