Hawaii recruits taking next step
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Done with one stage of their baseball careers, recent high school graduates Breland Almadova and Pi'ikea Kitamura are bridging the transition to the next level this summer with the Hawaii Island Movers.
Almadova, an outfielder and The Advertiser State Player of the Year out of 'Iolani, and Kitamura, an All-State shortstop from Kamehameha, will be joining the University of Hawai'i baseball team this coming school year. The Movers program gives them the opportunity to adjust to collegiate competition.
"It's going to be better pitching, faster guys, so it's just going to help me get better," Almadova said.
They will be using wooden bats.
"Wood bat always helps," Kitamura said. "Hitting the ball on the sweet spot (consistently) makes it easier when you transition to aluminum."
The Movers played three games this past week against teams from the Paradise League. It was a tuneup for their month-long trip to Japan beginning Tuesday. The Movers will play 20 games in 28 days. Once there, they will travel using all modes of transportation. They will play in Hiroshima, catch a bus to Kyushu, ride the shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka and fly to Sapporo.
The Movers will play all-star teams made up of players from the top baseball universities, Movers general manager Richard Olsen said.
"It's a long trip, but the more baseball I play, the better I get," Almadova said. "The better the competition up there, the better I'll get and the more experience I (will) get."
Both players will be joining a UH team that will have to replace three starting position players. Catcher Landon Hernandez and second baseman Ryan Morford completed their eligibility, while junior third baseman Vinnie Catricala just signed with the Seattle Mariners, who picked him in the 10th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
While Almadova will have to battle for playing time with all of the outfielders returning, Kitamura will have a chance to challenge for the vacancy left by Catricala.
"I'm just coming in, obviously, wanting to play," Kitamura said. "Wherever the opening is, if third base is the place, I just want a shot at trying for the starting job."
The Movers will be loaned five players from Osaka Gakuin University when playing in Japan. It has been customary each summer that they have players on loan. But the Movers also had to find several last-minute replacements. UH center fielder Kolten Wong, coming off Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors, was invited to tryouts in North Carolina for the USA National Team. Also, catcher Carlton Tanabe, a recent Pearl City High graduate, signed with the Mariners, who picked him in the 24th round in the draft.
NOTES
Infielder Jordon Monico, a 2008 Moanalua graduate, is using his opportunity with the Movers to keep his game sharp as he considers transferring to UH. He spent this past school year at Savannah State in Georgia, where the 6-foot, 230-pound freshman played linebacker on a football scholarship and played in 29 games on the baseball team. Monico, used mainly as a designated hitter, batted .279 with four home runs. He is still deciding which sport he wants to continue at UH, but does know he will sit out this season. Savannah State is Division I in baseball and NCAA rules will force him to sit out anyway.
