He fits in well, for now, as just one of the guys, which is just the way he likes it. Though his profile could start to rise considerably, possibly as early as Thursday.
His name is Kobie Russell, a UH-Hilo ballplayer, though some of his teammates jokingly introduce him as Kobie Russell, 17th-round Major League Baseball draft pick.
It might be too cliche to call Russell a diamond in the rough for the Vulcans, but that’s essentially what he is. Taken by the Toronto Blue Jays with 517th overall selection out of Waipahu High on Oahu in 2017, Russell is, according to longtime former UHH coach Joey Estrella, perhaps the highest drafted player to enter the program.
“It was a dream to hear (my name called) and get that call, but me and my parents,” Russell said Tuesday at practice, “we talked about it, and baseball is going to end some day, so education should be the way to go. It actually gives me the opportunity to get a degree and the dream.”
That those pursuits continue at UH-Hilo make Russell, by any estimation, a good get for coach Kallen Miyataki.
Russell said his scholarship to Lewis-Clark State College was pulled during the process of being drafted, and he had became familiar with Hilo and its university when the Marauders came to Hilo High’s Stanley Costales tournament his senior year.
“Hilo was just like home, but even more relaxed,” Russell said, “and that’s who I am, a relaxed-type person. After Kal offered me, it really opened my eyes.
“I love everything about it here. You’re held to a higher expectation in the community. When you do something good, you know you’re making your brothers proud, your teammates proud, your community proud and the school.”
He called his redshirt season tough from a competitive standpoint, but it was therapeutic and beneficial from a mental angle. And as the Vulcans broke through in 2018 with a 21-27 record – their best season since 2011 – there were hints of better things to come. One could almost hear the slight whisper: Russell was waiting in the wings.
“It will take some time, he’s young, but you can see the tools that he has and what the major leagues look for,” Miyataki said. “It’s a matter of how well he develops or he himself puts the emphasis and how hard he works to get what he wants.”
Getting drafted is great in all, but all that amounted to was a projection by others that Russell has to meet, Miyataki said.
“He has to put in a lot of time,” the coach said, “You want to be a five-figure guy, you want to be a six-figure guy, seven-figure guy, it’s not up to the coaches, it’s not up to dad and mom (Jerry and Traci Russell) it’s up to you and what you want in your life.”
Russell is eligible to be drafted again in 2020, but he’s not looking that far ahead. In fact, he’s not looking past Thursday, when UHH (3-6) returns to Pacific West Conference play and begins a four-game series with Biola at Wong Stadium. Nor does he sound all that worried about himself. His biggest concern is reaching a goal that is rarely mentioned around the program – getting UHH to the postseason.
Russell admits he’s faced some “invisible pressure” so far because he doesn’t want to let any of his teammates or coaches down. The left-handed hitting third baseman is 7 for 32 (.219) with an RBI in eight starts.
“We just have to be consistent in all parts of the game,” he said. “If we do those things, we’re a great team. We are talented, this is probably the best bunch of guys I’ve played with. We can make it to the postseason and shock the PacWest.
“My boys are grinders, they grind day in and day out. We go to school the next day after a long practice, we grind, grind, grind.”
For UHH to get anywhere, the pitching will have to get better than it was two weekends ago at Hawaii Pacific. During a five-game losing streak stretching between two series against the Sharks, the Vulcans allowed 73 runs, and their team ERA stands at 8.64.
In one sense, Miyataki said, the experimental stage is over and the season starts anew Thursday for UHH, which is 1-1 in PacWest play.
Ace Dylan Spain (0-1, 7.36), who pitched 3 2/3 innings in his lone start and didn’t make the trip to Oahu for the four-game nonconference set, is slated to start the 6 p.m. series opener against the Eagles (4-5), who come in after losing three of four to HPU. Left-hander Kyle Alcorn (1-1, 9.00), coming off of a rough start in which the Sharks hit good pitches, Miyataki said, will get the ball Friday, and Christian Sadler (0-1, 4.15) and Travis Burleson (2-1, 4.50) are slated to get starts during Saturday’s doubleheader. Burleson and closer John Kea delivered a win for UHH in its last game Feb. 17 at HPU.
“I needed to see where we’re at in the middle of our staff, which pretty much explains we need a lot of work,” Miyataki said of the previous series. “I kind of had a hunch, I was hoping for the best, it just tells us we need to work harder.”
Russell is one of four Waipahu Marauders on the roster. Senior Dylan Sugimoto, a mainstay in the lineup last season, was deemed healthy enough to return to outfield, allowing RJ Romo to play first base. Like Russell, Waipahu alums Rustin Ho, a junior transfer and outfielder, and Jaron Sugimoto, a freshman utility player who redshirted last season, are in their first seasons of eligibility for UHH.
“It’s tough finding talent there,” Russell said, “but they’re are a few gems from there.”
And now on the Big Island, it appears.
To hear Russell talk, you’d think he’s been here all along and plans on staying awhile.
“Everybody thinks they’re just going to run us over, but it’s not going to happen this year, and it’s definitely not going to happen next year,” he said. “The legacy of what happened in the past is over. With the talent that is coming in and out of this program, its going to be tough to bring us down.”
