As the Hawaii Stars worked out during spring training on Maui, the bright sun soaked second-year manager Garry Templeton II with a full tank’s worth of optimism. As the Hawaii Stars worked out during spring training on Maui, the bright
As the Hawaii Stars worked out during spring training on Maui, the bright sun soaked second-year manager Garry Templeton II with a full tank’s worth of optimism.
“We’re looking good,” said Templeton, who spent his offseason in San Diego coaching travel ball teams. “We tried to upgrade at every position, get more experience on the team to get better. I always expect to pitch well and play defense. Those are two things teams need to do every single day.
“Hitting comes in streaks, but we’ve got guys who swing consistently. I know it’s hard to hit the ball out in Hilo and Maui, but we’ve definitely got guys who can swing the bat.”
Last season Hawaii was mired for the most part in a long, cold offensive drought.
That explains the ballclub’s 25-29 record in the return of pro ball to the Big Island, after the Hilo Stars and Hawaii Winter Baseball League (1993-97) closed shop. It also explains the hard-luck 0-7 record of Dallas Mahan, who had a 3.53 ERA and six quality starts in 10 games last season.
Keoni Manago, a former University of Hawaii at Hilo outfielder, led the Stars with a .333 batting average in 31 games. He was traded to the Normal (Ill.) Cornbelters of the Frontier League. Also back is catcher Brendan Davis, who batted .309 and knocked in 13 RBIs in 28 games.
But the book is closed on last season, which also saw the demise of the North American Baseball League. The Stars are now part of the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs.
Onan Masaoka, Ronnie Loeffler, Mahan, John Holley and Matt Stropoli are Hawaii’s starting pitchers and will march to the mound in that order. Masaoka, who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1999 and 2000, is a newcomer. Stropoli is making his pro debut after pitching last year for Concordia University, an NAIA team in Irvine, Calif.
“Onan is looking good,” said Templeton, who goes by G2. “He brings a lot of experience to the team. He knows what he’s doing. He knows how to set up hitters, throw strikes, challenge hitters and how to get guys out. I’m looking for him to be the leader of the staff. I’m not sure how hard he threw with the Dodgers.”
As for the two other local pitchers, Loeffler and Holley, Templeton also saved his favorite description for both. Last season, Loeffler was 6-3 with a 4.39 ERA in 69 2/3 innings while Holley went 0-3 with a 5.27 ERA with three quality starts (at least six innings and three earned runs or less) in six games.
“Ronnie is looking good. He’s in a lot better shape because last year he didn’t know he was going to pitch. He came off the couch,” Templeton said. “This time, he’s trained his body and has gained a couple of miles on his fastball and tightened up his offspeed pitches.
“Last year, he threw 82 to 84 mph. He should be somewhere in the 85 to 87 mph range. John is looking good. The whole thing with him is consistently throwing strikes. The kid can throw 150 pitches and still be good.
“His velocity has always been there, topping out at 93 mph. But if he can come out and consistently challenge hitters he’ll surprise a lot of people and win a lot of games.”
