Posted on: Wednesday, June 8, 2005
HOMEGROWN REPORT
Kometani's pitching lifts Pepperdine
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Facing elimination, Pepperdine senior right-hander Kea Kometani equaled a career high with 10 strikeouts as the Waves beat Rhode Island, 2-1, Saturday at the Long Beach Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
The Waves went on to beat Long Beach State, 6-3, and Southern California, 9-2, on Sunday, but lost to USC, 5-2, on Monday and were eliminated. The Trojans advanced to the Super Regionals.
No other baseball players or coaches with Hawai'i ties remain in the NCAA Tournament.
More Baseball • Sacramento State junior outfielder Jim Strombach (Moanalua '02 of 'Aiea) received Division I All-Independent team honorable-mention honors. Strombach was the only player to start all 57 games for Sacramento State this season and was voted by his teammates as the season's MVP. He led the team, while also posting career highs, in hits (68), runs (33), stolen bases (15) and doubles (14).
Voting for the All-Independent team was made by representatives from Dallas Baptist, Hawai'i-Hilo, Indiana U.-Purdue U. Fort Wayne, Longwood, New York Tech, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Savannah State, South Dakota State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American, UC Davis and Utah Valley State.
• Hartnell (Salinas, Calif.) Community College freshman pitcher Marc Nobriga (Saint Louis '04) and sophomore utility player Chris Balatico (Mililani '03) were named to the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Northern California All-America Team. Nobriga had an 11-3 record and 1.47 ERA with 148 strikeouts in 128 innings.
Balatico hit .392 with 31 RBIs, 16 doubles, five triples and 15 stolen bases. As a pitcher, Balatico went 5-5 with a 3.22 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 83 innings.
Freshman catcher Jowen Murray-Thornton (Saint Louis '04) was named to the All-Northern California team. He batted .386 with 32 RBIs.
• Oregon's Travis Chock (Punahou '01) helped the school's club team advance to the National Club Baseball Association's World Series in Bradenton, Fla., where it lost in the third round. Chock was named to the All-Region Team, and was named as the National Player of the Week on May 18.
If you know of any athletes deserving of recognition, give us their names, high schools and graduation years, colleges and sports. E-mail us at: homegrown@honoluluadvertiser.com or contact Leila Wai at 535-2457. • California-Berkeley senior center fielder Kaleo Eldredge (Baldwin '01) was named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Third Team as an at-large selection. She was also a Pacific-10 Conference Softball All-Academic honorable-mention selection.
• Three men's volleyball players from Hawai'i have earned Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Academic All-Conference honors. Cal State Northridge redshirt freshman outside hitter Isaac Kneubuhl (Kamehameha '03 of Pukalani, Maui) earned a 3.71 GPA in kinesiology.
University of the Pacific senior outside hitter Bryson Metz (Kamehameha '01 of 'Aiea) earned a 3.03 GPA in business.
Pepperdine senior libero James Ka (Kamehameha '00) earned a 3.16 GPA in public relations.
• Maryland redshirt junior Mandy Pascual (Punahou '01 of 'Aiea) was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America University Division All-District II Women's At-Large First Team, selected by CoSIDA. Pascual earned a 3.909 GPA in chemical engineering.
She was recently honored with the Maryland Academic Achievement award for gymnastics.
• Redlands (Calif.) senior Erin Hiranaga (University High '01 of Palolo Valley) was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division All-District 8 Women's At-Large First Team, selected by CoSIDA. She earned a 3.81 GPA as a communicative disorders major.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
Kometani, a 2001 Punahou School graduate, pitched eight innings, allowing five hits, one run and two walks. Pepperdine scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to stay in contention.
• Highland (Kan.) Community College freshman outfielder Dylan Libadisos ('Aiea '04 of Kapolei) earned National Junior College Athletic Association Division I All-America honorable-mention honors.
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