By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Hawaii Pacific senior right fielder Blake Amaral’s production keeps rolling along, season after season, steady and strong as Hilo Bay’s breakwater rock wall.
The 2008 Kamehameha graduate is batting .356 with two homers and 27 RBIs and looking to improve those numbers in his homecoming against the University of Hawaii at Hilo in a four-game Pacific West Conference series.
The Sea Warriors (18-12, 10-10) sit in fourth place in the conference while the Vulcans (6-22, 9-28) are next to last, suffering a rough season, which has included:
• A school Division II record 23-game losing streak.
• Two losses by more than 20 runs (24-2 to Cal Baptist and 23-2 to Grand Canyon).
• 20 straight losing seasons with just 12 games left.
At least the Vuls won’t have to face Amaral ever again after the four-game set.
As a freshman against UHH, Amaral had one of the all-time monster games in HPU history, batting 4 for 5, cracking a grand slam and finishing with 10 RBIs, a school record for one game.
He finished that season with a .386 batting average, five homers and 46 RBIs and was named to the All-PacWest first team.
His sophomore year was even better. He hit .404 with eight homers and 56 RBIs and led the Sea Warriors to the NCAA Division II West Regional for the first time in program history. He repeated on the All-PacWest first team.
Last season, Amaral batted .388 with two homers and 27 RBIs and was named the PacWest Player of the Year, landing on the first team for the third time. He also set the school record for longest hitting streak at 26 games. He also holds the school record for doubles with 59 and RBIs with 156.
In HPU’s four-game sweep against UHH at the start of the season, Amaral had only modest success. He was 4 for 16 but piled up six RBIs.
“I’m excited to see my family and play in front of my home crowd,” said Amaral, who’ll have his own personal fan club headed by parents Troy Amaral and Debbie Ishii, and grandparents Johnny and Jana Amaral, and Howard and Luvia Ishii.
“I enjoy the atmosphere of being at home,” he said. “My senior year has been good. I’m looking forward to finishing up my college career. I’ve been trying to stay consistent, not doing too much and staying within myself.”
Amaral, a sociology major with a 3.0 grade-point average, was a Kamehameha teammate of Kolten Wong, who’s now at the St. Louis Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate at Springfield, Mo, in his second year of pro ball.
Like Wong, he’s hoping for a shot at pro ball. If he doesn’t get picked in the Major League Baseball draft in June, he’ll look into playing independent ball like former UHH pitcher Aaron Correa, another Kamehameha teammate.
“I’d definitely like to play independent ball,” he said. “I love the game of baseball. I’m very happy for Aaron. One thing I’ve learned is baseball is a game of failure. You have to be mentally tough toward it.”
His growth also came away from the diamond as well.
“Being on my own in college, not having a good home-cooked meal by mom and her washing my clothes and being more independent, it’s been great,” Amaral said. “I’ve met a great group of baseball teammates. Some from all over the world. You create friendships because we all have the same passion for the game.
“We have that camaraderie to work together to achieve a common goal. Our strength is playing together as a team. It’s a team effort with us and everybody on our team plays a part.”
His best moment at HPU was his 10-RBI bonanza as a freshman. He didn’t get a hit in one at-bat, so he wasn’t perfect. Still, it was a memorable day.
“It was one of those days in baseball where it’s hard to wrap your head around,” he said. “A lot of it was because of my teammates. They presented me with opportunities. I tried to stay within myself, make the most of my at-bats and I was lucky the ball fell my way.”
The Sea Warriors have only 20 games left in the regular season. Amaral’s steady record-setting career at HPU is coming to a close. That had him wistfully thinking about his journey.
“This year has gone by in a blink of an eye,” he said.