Rainbow Wahine have shot at postseason
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
A memorable thing is happening to an easily forgettable University of Hawai'i softball team.
The Rainbow Wahine have won nine in a row, sweeping three consecutive three-game series, and moved into consideration for postseason play. They close the regular season against San Jose State with a game tomorrow and a doubleheader Saturday.
Dahlberg
"I've crunched the numbers, and we have a chance," said UH coach Bob Coolen, whose team is 29-20 overall and 10-5 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Using the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's ratings index as a guide, Coolen drafted mock brackets for the 64-team NCAA tournament. Figuring that 28 league champions earn automatic bids and power conferences such as the Pac-10 and Southeastern will receive up to eight berths, Coolen estimates 56 spots are reserved.
Including "nitty-gritties" — categories such as power rankings and records in the last 10 games — Coolen predicts the Rainbows (56th in the current NFCA ratings) have a decent chance of earning one of what he believes will be the final eight berths.
It is a remarkable turnaround for a team that was 20-20 entering its final 12 regular-season games, cursed regularly by Mother Nature and largely ignored on its own campus.
"We are very invisible," Coolen said. "We have a very small gathering of loyal fans. When we were 20-20 after playing probably the toughest preseason schedule we've played in a long time, no one really knew about it."
Entering the final 12-game stretch, Coolen told his players they needed to win 10, giving them a 30-12 record. Coolen said the NCAA wants a team to play a minimum of 45 games, but at least eight UH games were lost to rainouts, including cancellations at usually arid Las Vegas and Arizona.
In a rare show of defiance, UH first baseman Tyleen Tausaga disputed Coolen's recommendation of a 10-2 finish.
"I said, 'We're going to go 12-0,' " she recalled saying during a team meeting.
Tausaga still was stinging from a 1-7 collapse last year. "To lose like that was crazy," she said. "I was upset by that. Now we believe we can beat anybody. I hope we win these last three games. I told a lot of people we would go 12-0."
The Rainbows' surge is traced to a lineup tweak and the establishment of a 2 1/2-pitcher rotation.
Catcher Denise Dahlberg (.408 in 15 WAC games) and left fielder Kaulana Gould (.455, 10 RBIs in 15 WAC games) became the Nos. 2 and 3 hitters.
Leadoff hitter Tracie Uchima and Dahlberg, who is 5 of 5 on steal attempts in WAC games, improved the top-of-the-order speed and set the way for Gould and cleanup hitter Tausaga (team-high 51 hits, three homers).
Kate Robinson's emergence as a reliever has stabilized the pitching.
Coolen prefers to open each series with Melissa Coogan (14-9, 5-3 WAC), who mixes a downball and deceptive change-up.
Shannon Tabion (9-4, 3-1), whose risers reach 65 mph, is the No. 2 starter, with Coogan returning for the third game. Coolen said Coogan does not have as much stamina as she did as a sophomore in 2003.
"If we get two innings out of Coogan the second game of the second day, we're in a position where we want to be in," Coolen said.
Coolen said he decided against flip-flopping the rotation, a move that would give Tabion two starts each series, because "I prefer, with a gut feeling, to go with Coogan first because she (usually) throws lights out the first game."
His decision was made easier because of Robinson's success as the successor to Jessica Morton, who suffered a season-ending broken thumb in March.
"Whenever we get in trouble, we're not afraid to bring in Kate," Coolen said. "She throws a nice heavy ball, and she throws with confidence. She has no fear."
In five WAC games, Robinson is 2-1 with a 1.19 ERA. She has limited opponents to a .219 batting average.
Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.
