Extra time in the weight room strengthened Suzuki's legs, abdominal area and back. Time with Titans hitting coach Rick Vanderhook refined his swing.

The result: The 2001 Baldwin High graduate improved in all phases of hitting to lead the Titans in batting average (.438), runs (62), home runs (13), RBIs (74), slugging percentage (.726), walks (43), on-base percentage (.535) and sacrifice flies (8). Heck, he is tied for second on the team with three others with six steals. All that has made him an All-America selection by two publications so far.

The 6-foot, 200-pound junior is expected to be the first player with ties to Hawai'i to be picked in Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft, which starts tomorrow via conference call from the league's New York office. He is ranked 48th in The Scouting Report magazine's top 200 prospects. That would place him, after counting the sandwich round, the 11 supplementary picks for free-agent signing compensation, in the second round.

"In the offseason, I really worked hard in the weight room," the right-handed hitting Suzuki said in a telephone interview before the start of this weekend's regionals. "I worked hard at my approach at the plate, trying to take the off-speed pitch to right field. My hitting instructor, Rick Vanderhook, really pounded into my head to go to the opposite field."

His 13 home runs more than quadrupled his career output entering the season. He more than doubled his career RBIs, which was 36 at the start of the season.

But the biggest, and what might be the most significant improvement, was his command of the strike zone, which is reflected in his walks-to-strikeouts ratio. It was at 19-17 after two seasons; a 1-to-1 ratio is considered good. This season, Suzuki nearly doubled his ratio to 43 to 23.

"Sometimes, early in the game, I would take a couple of pitches to get a feel of the pitcher to set something up for later in the game," Suzuki explained. "Sometimes in my later at-bats, I would swing at the first pitch if I saw something I could drive."

He said one key is to stick with a plan when going to the plate.

"If I'm looking for a fastball, then I won't swing at anything else," he said. "That helped me get good hitters' counts where I could get a fastball. Being patient at the plate helped with my average."

Waiakea High's Myles Ioane is one of several University of Hawai'i recruits on The Scouting Report's state-by-state list.

In recent draft notes in Baseball America Online, Suzuki was described as being "a personal favorite of A's general manager Billy Beane."

In Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball," it delves into Beane's affinity for players with good strike zone judgment, or guys who can draw walks, such as Suzuki's 43 walks to 23 strikeouts. Against the opinions of his scouts, Beane picked Alabama catcher Jeremy Brown with the 35th overall pick in the 2002 draft.

Overview

Baseball America Online gave a one star out of five assessment of Hawai'i talent.

"It's one of the leanest draft crops in years in Hawai'i," wrote Baseball America editor in chief Allan Simpson. "There are no premium high school players and the University of Hawai'i ... has no junior class to speak of."

One local scout disagreed with that assessment, saying that the prospects just didn't play up to their potential.

Another scout said he does not expect any high school player to go earlier than the 10th through 12th rounds.

Yet another scout said opinions of a number of the players are mixed, unlike past years when players like Jerome Williams (39th overall pick by the Giants in 1999 out of Waipahu High), Bronson Sardinha (34th overall by the Yankees in 2001 out of Kamehameha) and Brandon League (second round by the Blue Jays out of Saint Louis in 2001) were clear-cut high-round prospects.

Like the players, scouts here will be waiting anxiously to see if players they turned in to their organizations will be drafted.

Players mentioned in the following sections were either listed in The Scouting Report, a publication available only through subscription that lists prospects from high school, junior colleges and four-year colleges by state.

Some other players mentioned are those believed to have been registered by teams for the draft. Only registered players are eligible to be drafted. In some cases, players and scouts do not know if teams have registered the players.

Also, mention in this article does not guarantee the player will be drafted.

Rainbows

Senior shortstop Brian Finegan is expected to be picked after enjoying a solid season on offense and defense.

He batted .339 with a team-leading 47 runs. The 6-1, 190-pound right-handed hitter has played in every game since transferring to UH from Cuesta (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) JC two years ago (111 games).

"They like his athletic ability," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "They like his arm, they like his range (and) his energy that he brings you."

Other seniors who could get drafted are right-handed pitcher Clary Carlsen (6-8, 5.03 ERA) and catcher Creighton Kahoali'i (.235), who sustained a season-ending torn posterior cruciate ligament.

Junior right-hander Ricky Bauer (8-4, 3.60), Trapasso's first recruit, was drafted in the 39th round by the Red Sox out of Mid-Pacific in 2001.

Bauer's status is unknown to Trapasso and scouts. Bauer said if he is picked within the first 12 rounds he would consider signing. Otherwise, he is headed for Madison (Wis.) for summer ball.

"I'll work hard this summer and come back next year," Bauer said of his options.

"If he goes on the second day (21st round or later), chances are he could be back," Trapasso said. "He could make a 25th round (this year) into a 12th round (next year)."

The junior year for a college player is considered the "money" year because seniors lose leverage in negotiations.

UH recruits

The Rainbows have a number of recruits who show up in The Scouting Report. One in the top 200 prospects list is California high school outfielder Greg Burns.

According to Baseball America Online, Burns, a 6-3, 180-pound left-handed hitter has been timed in the 60-yard dash in 6.4 seconds was clocked from home to first on a drag bunt at 3.6 seconds.

Other UH recruits on the state-by-state list are:

• From Hawai'i: RHP Kanekoa Texeira (Kamehameha); LHP Myles Ioane (Waiakea); OF Ryan Asato (Mid-Pacific); RHP Ronnie Loeffler (Waiakea); and RHP Harrison Kuroda (MPI).

• From California: SS Joe Spiers, who set a California Interscholastic Federation record by hitting in 46 consecutive games; and JC transfer OF Jose Canstaneda.

• From New Mexico: RHP James Parr is the considered the top-rated prep player in his state.

• From Arizona: JC transfer C Esteban (Steven) Lopez.

"That Lopez kid is definitely going to get drafted and he's going to get drafted well," Trapasso said.

• From Oregon: C Erik Ammon.

Others

Other Hawai'i high school seniors in The Scouting Report include Waimea 3B Leonard Zalopany III, Punahou OF Justin Ariki, 'Aiea C Aaron Asher; and Baldwin INF Shevis Shima.

Other high school players believed to have been registered for the draft include: Farrington OF Matt Bell; Saint Louis P Marc Nobriga and C Jowen Murray-Thornton; MPI SS Randy Rundgren; Moloka'i SS Milton Loo; and Kalaheo C Jacob Myking.

Hawai'i Pacific has a hopeful in 1B Alika Kuraoka (.281, 31 RBIs), who led the team with 16 doubles and four home runs, while sharing the team lead with five triples.

Also, Pepperdine RHP Kea Kometani (Punahou '01), who beat Arizona State in Friday's regional opener, is 8-6 with a 4.05 ERA. He is a 6-4, 200-pound junior.

Steve (Kamaile) Santos, a 2002 Kailua graduate, is a 6-2, 200-pound right-handed pitcher for Diablo Valley (Pleasant Hill, Calif.). He was drafted by Seattle in the 30th round out of Los Medanos (Pittsburg, Calif.) last year. Since the draft-and-follow deadline has passed, he is eligible for this year's draft.

Former UH right-handed pitcher Will Quaglieri, a fifth-year senior at Loyola Marymount, signed as a free agent with the New York Mets earlier in the week. After two seasons at UH, he sat out 2003. He returned this season, recording a 5-6 record with a 3.84 ERA. He started 14 games, completing three.

Quaglieri will be assigned to the short-season Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Pennsylvania League.