Matt Hibbert provided something of a spark, but the bats of the other Hawaii Stars turned cold and harmless, scoring zero runs and managing a meager seven hits — none for extra bases — over two games. By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Matt Hibbert provided something of a spark, but the bats of the other Hawaii Stars turned cold and harmless, scoring zero runs and managing a meager seven hits — none for extra bases — over two games.
No surprise, the Sonoma Grapes pitching staff resembled the second coming of Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh and sky-rocketed past the Stars 6-0 and 4-0 in a North American Baseball League doubleheader on Saturday before 250 fans at Wong Stadium.
Tim Robbins portrayed LaLoosh, a hotshot pitching prospect working his way up the ladder, in the movie Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner as catcher Crash Davis, a longtime baseball lifer — somewhat like Hawaii Stars pitcher Dallas Mahan.
Before the introduction to Mahan, who took the Game 1 loss and did his bullpen a solid by going the distance, let’s meet Matt Hibbert.
He’s 5 feet, 10 inches, plays center field and has been swinging a bat that’s Kilauea lava hot. Hibbert batted .391 (9 for 23) in the six-game series against Sonoma County. He leads the NABL with a .465 batting average.
Hibbert batted 2 for 3 in Game 1 and 0 for 3 in Game 2, a closing loss that had the Stars stumped; they were held to one hit — Reece Alnas’ single in the sixth to snap a no-hit bid.
Ross Pomerantz went four innings, and Jeff Lyons, Rob Savarese and Marquis Pettis each pitched an inning for the combined one-hitter. Lyons got the win, and gave up the hit.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good,” Hibbert said. “I’ve been taking quality at-bats and not worrying about numbers. I want to make every at-bat count.”
He played for Long Beach State, where he was a second-team All-Big West Conference outfielder his senior year in 2011. He also earned his communications degree.
Instead of becoming a working stiff, Hibbert decided to chase his dream and play pro ball, maybe get hooked up with an affiliated organization, too. Last year, he played for the Chico Outlaws, a former NABL member, which folded prior to this season.
“It’s always a goal for everyone to play pro ball,” Hibbert said. “For me, it’s a dream. I don’t worry about putting up numbers. I want to succeed here and that success will take care of itself.”
He tried out for a NABL team in Texas, but found the outfield situation a bit crowded and the coaching grapevine led him to the Hawaii Stars.
“I love it here, playing baseball. It’s a scenic place and it’s nice to have the locals on the team and to feel that camaraderie,” Hibbert said. “It’s cool we’re bringing pro baseball back to Hilo. I’m disappointed about losing both games, but that’s the thing about baseball more than anything you have to bounce back.”
While Hibbert, 23, is the youngster, Mahan is the NABL’s Crash Davis — though he’s a pitcher. Mahan, 34, has 15 years of pro ball experience. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 35th round in 1996 — when Hibbert was 7 years old, so long ago cell phones didn’t exist and no one knew Kim Kardashian’s name.
In seven innings, Mahan, who defines the definition “crafty left-hander,” allowed six runs (one unearned) on 10 hits and no walks, and struck out three, fooling — rather than overpowering — a trio of Grapes.
“I tried three different times to retire,” said Mahan, who’s from South Dakota. “Baseball is in the blood. G2 (manager Garry Templeton II) invited me down this year. I last played for Calgary in the Golden Baseball League in 2009 and we won the championship. I got the itch after two years of not playing.
“It was a good opportunity to get into coaching as the pitching coach and mentor pitchers, and I wanted to play again. I’m older but I still want to compete. I know how to go about the game the right way.”
The good thing about being your own pitching coach is you can talk to yourself. When his pitchers run into trouble, Mahan keeps the message simple.
“I tell them to relax and have fun,” he said of his mound visits. “When guys start pressing, that’s when their pitches stiffen and go straight. You have to be as loose as possible. Yeah, in that fourth inning, I was talking to myself.”
In any case, Sonoma starter Dustin Crenshaw — no word if he’s related to golfer Ben Crenshaw — pitched a six-hitter, struck out four and turned Hawaii’s bats rudderless in the 6-0 Game 1 win.
In the second game, Brandon Gregorich blasted a two-run homer off Cortney Arruda, one of the two locals to pitch, in the fifth inning. Arruda gave up two runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings. Michael Kenui pitched a scoreless seventh.
Hibbert took an 0-for-3 collar in Game 2. But otherwise he was hot the whole series. Still, it’s a team game and he got thrown on the barbecue after the doubleheader drubbing was over. Templeton was no happy camper.
“Our position players didn’t come out to play,” he said. “Our pitching staff did an outstanding job.”
The Stars (7-5) split the six-game series with the Grapes (6-6). Hawaii next plays at the San Rafael Pacifics (7-3), starting with another six-game set on Monday.
“Our hitters have to go out and perform better,” Templeton said. “If our pitching staff continues to challenge hitters, we’ll be fine. San Rafael is in first place. We can’t give away any games.
“I thought overall we did good in the series. We didn’t do a good job of taking advantage when opportunities were presented to us. But our hitters did a good job in the games we won.”
Game 1
Grapes 000 401 1 — 6 10 0
Stars 000 000 0 — 0 6 1
Game 2
Grapes 000 022 0 — 4 5 0
Stars 000 000 0 — 0 1 2
