Posted on: Wednesday, May 28, 2003
UH's Cook picked All-WAC
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Senior Brent Cook, who played at more than half the baseball positions in his two seasons with the University of Hawai'i, was picked as a utility player on the All-Western Athletic Conference first team, the conference announced yesterday.
"I'm very happy for him," UH coach Mike Trapasso said of Cook's selection. "He's definitely deserving and it's a great way for him to cap a short, but outstanding career at UH."
Cook, who has played all three outfield positions and second and third base during his career, started this season in left field but finished at third base. Only he and shortstop Brian Finegan started in all 56 games. Cook batted .288, leading the team with 41 runs and 38 walks. He shared the team's RBI lead of 32 with Finegan and Rocky Russo.
Mendoza, a JC transfer, missed portions of the season with various injuries. He started in 26 games, batting .337 with nine doubles, two triples and a home run.
"If you look at when he was out of the lineup five, six weeks, we struggled," Trapasso said. "When he came back we played well and it's no coincidence that it's because of him."
George led the team in wins at 8-6. His earned run average was 4.80. He led the staff with 89 strikeouts and 95 2/3 innings, and also pitched two complete games. "Down the stretch, he pitched some pretty big games for us," Trapasso said. "He's sort of similar to Mendoza in that when he pitched well, we played well."
UH junior outfielder Jaziel Mendoza and senior pitcher Chris George were second-team selections.
