JC transfer is Hawai'i's leading man

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sophomore center fielder Robbie Wilder batted .398 and reached base 16 times on walks and Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser 16 times by being hit by pitches in 33 games last season at Sierra junior college. UH baseball preview The Advertiser will preview the University of Hawai'i baseball team in a series of stories. Here is the lineup: Today: Outfielders Tomorrow: Catchers Saturday: Infielders Sunday: Pitchers

Wilder, from West Valley High in Cottonwood, Calif., saw a scholarship offer rescinded by Notre Dame.

Strike one.

Dartmouth's baseball program was ready to accept him, but the admissions office did not feel his 3.9 grade-point average and 1180 SAT score were Ivy League-worthy.

Strike two.

He walks on at Santa Clara, only to be told he would not be part of then new-coach Mark O'Brien's plans. He redshirted that season.

Foul tip.

But after a year at Sierra junior college, where he was second in the Bay Valley Conference with a .398 average, Hawai'i and Texas A&M gave him pitches (of scholarships) to hit.

While Wilder could have gone to the established top-25 program, that would be too easy for a guy who likes to work pitch counts.

"I felt like I could play, contribute to this program right away and that was something special," said Wilder, a sophomore in eligibility. "It came down to the coaches. They just won me over. Even though Texas A&M is a perennial top-25 program, I saw something great that's about to happen here in the next couple years. I kind of decided that's what I want to be a part of. That's the main reason why I came here."

UH coach Mike Trapasso said Wilder will bat leadoff, but not solely because of his 6.5 speed in the 60-yard dash. Wilder, a 5-foot-11, 184-pound left-handed hitter and thrower, knows how to get on base. Wilder drew 16 walks and was hit 16 times in 33 games at Sierra.

"He goes deep in the counts," Trapasso said.

Wilder learned to be a selective hitter from when he was in high school. West Valley coach Don Ray hammered the point into him.

"He just emphasized getting on base," Wilder said. "That was the main thing: 'I don't care how you do it, whether you get a double or take nine pitches and get a walk or get a hit-by-pitch.' "

It takes a certain mentality to look through a pitcher's repertoire — in one at-bat, if possible, just to make him throw more pitches. Wilder loves that aspect of the game.

"There's a lot of confidence there," Wilder said. "You gotta be willing to take some close pitches. You have to realize that if you can take a pitcher six, eight pitches per at-bat, the sooner you get into a bullpen and the better off you're going to be ... You have to have a good eye, you have to trust yourself and you have to trust the umpire; hope he makes the right call, too."

As for right calls, Wilder is not bitter about previous rejections from other schools. Even though he felt he had a good fall workout at Santa Clara, he still was told he would not make the team.

"Coaches are very particular about their guys," Wilder said. "They want their guys to play for them. It was a tough decision, but I still respect Coach O'Brien for what he did and it worked out a lot better for me because now I'm here."

Baseball America magazine lists Wilder on its preseason all-Western Athletic Conference team. It also ranks him as one of the top 10 prospects in the WAC. Even though he is a sophomore, he is draft-eligible because this is supposed to be his third year of college because he redshirted at Santa Clara.

But Wilder doesn't worry about the draft. His objective is to help the Rainbows improve on their 30-26 record from last year.

"I'm going to give as much to the program as long as I'm here," Wilder said. "That's my goal. We have Texas in a week and that's all I'm concerned about right now. Right now, my job is to play center field and get on base so we can score some runs."

The Rainbows have a lot of experience in the outfield, with right fielder Josh Green and left fielder Jaziel Mendoza returning.

Last year, Green started off strong, but struggled at the plate, striking out 36 times in 168 at-bats.

Mendoza missed about half the season with a leg injury, but finished with a .337 batting average.

Newcomers Greg Kish, a transfer from Oklahoma, and Nate Thurber, a JC transfer from Northeast Oklahoma A&M, also bring considerable experience. Thurber had 19 home runs with 59 RBIs last season.

Freshman Derek Dupree is the youngest of the outfielders.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8042.