HONOLULU — For better or for worse, the Hawaii baseball team relied upon five pitchers for nearly all of the 2023 season. Two of them were lauded for their yeoman's efforts by the conference’s coaches at the end of the season.
Left-handers Harry Gustin and Harrison Bodendorf were named to the All-Big West first team in the conference’s postseason awards announced Thursday.
Gustin, a sophomore from Aurora, Colo., quickly seized upon his new role as a starter going into the season. He was third among all Big West starters in earned-run average in conference games at 2.62. He went at least five innings in his final eight starts and was the starter in three of UH’s four shutouts on the season. He was one of just three starting pitchers on the first team.
Bodendorf, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Temecula, Calif., became one of UH’s go-to relievers and was one of just two such pitchers on the first team. He was one of three BWC pitchers with five wins and five saves. He was especially effective down the stretch with saves in five of his last seven appearances, all coming in outings of 2 1/3 innings or more.
Center fielder Matt Wong, a Saint Louis alumnus from Mililani who decided to stay in the program for a super senior season, was the Rainbow Warriors' leader in batting average (.330), home runs (10), runs (42) and RBIs (42) and was named to the BWC second team.
Second baseman Stone Miyao, third baseman/utility player Kyson Donahue and first baseman Jacob Igawa were named Big West honorable mentions.
UH (29-20, 18-12 Big West) finished in a tie for fifth place in a jam-packed upper half of the conference.
Caden Kendle of UC Irvine and Jakob Simons of CSUN were named BWC Co-Field Players of the Year. Long Beach State’s Nico Zeglin and Connor Burns were BWC Pitcher of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.
UC San Diego’s Eric Newman was named BWC Coach of the Year after leading the Tritons, still a transitional Division I program, to the outright conference title.
Assistant coach Mathew Troupe, who oversaw the UH pitching staff, announced on Wednesday that he has decided to return to the mainland to start a family.
Troupe, a volunteer coach, was lauded for his ability to relate to and motivate players. He came into the program from San Diego, where he was the director of player development, when head coach Rich Hill made the move from the Toreros in 2021.
Troupe thanked Hill, the coaching staff, the UH players and fans on his way out.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.