Radford thought the bad weather was all in the past, but at least the Rams were ready for Saturday’s drizzly baseball game against rival Farrington.
The Rams visited the Seattle area last week to play two games against local high school teams and got a taste of the springtime weather in the Pacific Northwest.
“It was the exact same weather,” said Radford coach Jacob Sur, referring to the rain that never stopped during the Rams’ 6-3 home victory over the Govs on Saturday, “but it was 30 degrees colder.”
There was also some hail and it was “way colder,” according to Radford right-handed pitcher Jack Dillon, who tossed a complete-game two-hitter despite dealing with wet baseballs. A year ago, Dillon no-hit Farrington in a 2-0 victory.
“It did a good job preparing us for this game,” he said about the trip. “We also went on a tour of Seattle and saw some D-I and D-II colleges (Puget Sound, University of Washington, Pacific Lutheran). It was really good because a lot of our guys haven’t been off the island before. We took a quick tour of the campus and saw the baseball facilities. It was really awesome.”
The Rams (8-0) remained in the OIA Division II lead by dispatching the Govs (6-2), who they play again at Farrington next Saturday. Waianae (6-1), the defending OIA D-II champion, and Kaimuki (5-2) are very much in the mix.
Two big games are also scheduled for Wednesday, with the Seariders visiting the Rams, and the Bulldogs traveling to Kalihi to meet the Govs.
“We’re not looking past anybody,” Sur said. “We’re playing all of the top teams right now and I like that because it means we’re facing really good pitching and there won’t be a dropoff when the playoffs come around.
“We don’t try to do anything special for anybody. We just keep doing what we do every day. For some of our kids, there could be a better approach at the plate. They could make better adjustments, but they’re still kids and sometimes too much stuff gets in their heads. We really harp on defense and pitching. We haven’t made a lot of errors and we haven’t walked a lot of guys. We always tell them that we’re not the type of team to bunch hits, like getting 10 to 15 hits a game. It’s about the small things here and there and the focus is on throwing strikes and playing ‘D.’ That’s all we ask of them.”
Awesome!! Happy to hear the Rams visited Seattle and fitted time into their schedule to visit UW, PLU & PSU. It is a very good experience for our students. Good Job Radford.
Yes, like the approach Rams. We were just there in Seattle too…that is cold baseball…lucky u live Hawaii. U, just miss the major league season…maybe next trip. Nice, trip and experience Rams. More teams should take a trip to other states…so much to gain. Good luck, Rams
You are right Lan, so much too gain but not all parents are supportive! too many parents are in the way!