It was a season of what might have been for the Hawai'i baseball team.

Losing two starting pitchers, including their ace down the stretch, the Rainbows still made it to the second-to-the-last game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Ruston, La., finishing third among the six teams. Their 29-31 overall record was their first time under .500 since coach Mike Trapasso's first season in 2002. Their 20-12 second-half run brought them closer to .500, but the injuries essentially derailed the opportunity to be better or perhaps even win the Western Athletic Conference title in a tournament that was up for grabs because there was no home-field advantage and that other teams had issues themselves.

"Were it not for a couple of key injuries down the stretch to a couple of our arms, who knows what would have happened after winning the first two games of the tournament?" Trapasso said. "Their toughness and their character; God blessed me with that group of kids this year."

It might have been a different story had Jared Alexander (7-3, 3.27 ERA), an all-WAC first-team selection, and Alex Bates (0-1, 5.52), who got off to a late start because of tendinitis, been able to pitch. Both still have a season of eligibility left.

Moreover, Alex Capaul, who began to show signs of his potential, came down with elbow problems that was compounded by a broken jaw in a freak mishap in pregame during the Utah Valley series.

But before the injuries, the freshmen, Capaul and Josh Slaats, struggled. Trapasso had to find that fine line between "baptizing them in the fire" and keeping their confidence up by having them pitch out of the bullpen. Trapasso felt both made nice strides.

"Capaul, in particular, really pitched well," Trapasso said. "He struggled in starts, but out of the bullpen, he pitched well and proved himself that he definitely can pitch at this level. And Slaats is the same way."

Slaats will get to test himself this summer in the prestigious Cape Cod League.

OFFENSE

Breaking in younger players on offense was a little better for the Rainbows.

True freshman Greg Garcia, who started the season at shortstop until ankle problems put him at second where the range wouldn't be as much of a factor, finished the season strong, batting .312 with a .415 on-base percentage from 24 walks and four hit batsmen in 47 games. He also was 6 of 6 in steal attempts. Garcia was hitting .175 at the halfway point of the season.

Garcia was an all-WAC second-team selection. His season wasn't much different from WAC Freshman of the Year, Fresno State shortstop Danny Muno (.328, .436 on-base, 10-of-13 steals in 64 games).

Also, showing promise was redshirt freshman right fielder Jeff Van Doornum. He hit .299 and was second on the team with 21 doubles and 44 RBI.

Otherwise, it was the seniors making the most impact. Center fielder Brandon Haislet and shortstop Jon Hee were consistent from start to finish. Haislet led the team in hitting (.389), runs (52), doubles (22), home runs (7), RBI (50), walks (31) and steals (11). Hee was second on the team with a .368 batting average and was second with 49 runs.

It was on offense where the Rainbows showed their most improvement from the first half of the season. At 9-19, UH was batting .249 and averaging 3.9 runs per game. It came largely against a challenging non-league schedule that featured five teams nationally ranked at the time they played UH. (Michigan, Arizona State, Long Beach State, San Diego and UC Irvine all have made the regionals.)

But a change for the better started just after UH was swept in a four-game series at Sacramento State. The Rainbows got out of their funk by finally beating a nationally ranked team April 1, beating then-No. 13 Stanford, 5-2. (Stanford is hosting a regional.)

That's when Garcia was eased back into the lineup at second base to less tax his ankle and Hee moved to shortstop and batted in the third position from leadoff. That's when the offense clicked. The Rainbows' final stats show an improved batting average of .288 and 5.7 runs per game.

The switch of Garcia and Hee in the middle infield "solidified things ... and really got us going," Trapasso said. "That's what really had us take off. April 1 was really the catalyst to that 12-5 stretch where we made those changes and kept going with that the rest of the year."

Defensively, the Rainbows were consistent all season. The Rainbows entered the WAC tournament with the best fielding percentage.

FUTURE

Having played a majority of underclassmen, the Rainbows have a strong core to work with offensively.

Only Hee does not return from the starting infield. Besides Garcia, third baseman Vinnie Catricala and first baseman Kevin Macdonald are back. The sophomore corner infielders had 39 and 38 RBI, respectively.

Besides Van Doornum, there are Matt Roquemore and Sean Montplaisir, another freshman who saw considerable action until a shoulder injury at Louisiana Tech during a regular-season series ended his season.

Catcher Landon Hernandez, a draft-eligible junior, finished strong, lifting his average from .207 with one homer and six RBI from the halfway point to .277 with five homers and 30 RBI. Trapasso said Hernandez's decision to sign will be based on where he is drafted.

Trapasso said he expects that Daly, another junior eligible for the draft, to sign.

Besides the two juniors, eligible for the draft are some of UH's 2009 signees.

Trapasso said there is interest in Kamehameha-Hawai'i catcher Kolten Wong, Southern California high school pitcher Lenny Linsky and San Diego-area high school catcher Nick Croce.

Also, Southern California-area pitcher Matt Sisto (6 feet 6, 220 pounds) has drawn strong interest, but a strained forearm might have negated his chances at being drafted high.

"He's a guy that's capable of being a rotational guy as a freshman," Trapasso. "He's got pitchabilty. Guys like Capaul and Slaats were really raw, but super-talented and just have to work on the command and secondary pitches. But Sisto comes in with command and secondary pitches, so he's a littler further along than those two guys."

Meanwhile, most of the returning players will be playing summer ball in various parts of the country. Some will play in the Hawaii Collegiate League. Some others will attend summer school and work out on their own.

Those needing summer school are mostly the junior college transfers because of different rules applied toward the APR (academic performance rating). The JC transfers have to be a prescribed percentage of hours from graduating, Trapasso said.

Meanwhile, Trapasso was pleased with the team's academic standing. After a fall team grade point average of 3.0, the team is close to a 2.8 during the spring, "which in season is outstanding," Trapasso said.

"You combine that with all of our seniors on course to graduate in their fifth year, we're in good shape in that on the APR," he said.