The University of Hawaii lost a baseball game Friday in 12 innings at Sacramento State, 7-6, but closer to home you’d have to say its future has rarely looked so good.

Perhaps not since another UH-bound left-hander, Derek Tatsuno, was pitching Aiea to a state championship in 1976 have the Rainbows had so much to look forward to at this time of the year.

Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium, Quinton Torres-Costa was the biggest reason why with 13 strikeouts and six no-hit innings in Waiakea’s 5-2 seven-inning no-hitter of Baldwin in the Division I title game of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Baseball State Championships.

It was the first no-hitter in a championship game since Punahou’s Glenn Goya blanked Saint Louis in the nine-inning 1972 finale.

Let’s be clear, this is not to say that Torres-Costa is the second coming of Tats — for whom there may never be an equal at UH — but you sure have to like what he brings to Manoa next season and the bang with which he will arrive.

Over 95 pitches, Torres-Costa gave the assembled 1,384 plenty to ponder about his — and UH’s — future as he dominated Baldwin. Torres-Costa, a 6-footer with a whip-like three-quarter delivery, struck out seven in a row at one point and got stronger and more invincible as the game progressed.

After struggling through a first inning in which the Bears got their two runs, piecing together a walk, hit batter, an error and a double steal, Torres-Costa turned lights-out dominator.

He so completely took over the stage that segments of the crowd — including Warriors loyalists — moaned when the Bears flied or grounded out, breaking up streaks of strikeouts.

The only thing that slowed Torres-Costa down Friday was the HHSAA rule that limits pitchers to a maximum 39 outs. Torres-Costa, who pitched a nine-strikeout, six-hit 5-0 shutout of Castle in the quarterfinals was only allowed six innings against Baldwin.

But while Torres-Costa was the star of the show, he was not the only reason for UH fans to look forward to the future. Third baseman Korin Medeiros and junior catcher Kean Wong, brother of Kolten, have also committed to the Rainbows.

News of Torres-Costa’s gem quickly reached UH head coach Mike Trapasso in Sacramento, where the first comment was an excited but hardly surprised, "Wow!"

Trapasso said, "We’re very excited to have him for next year, he’s a great kid, a good student and a great prospect. But as good as he is now I’m excited how high his ceiling is. He hasn’t even touched his potential yet."

Indeed, the UH coaches saw early on from his sophomore year the escalating promise of Torres-Costa.

‘Bows fans will now have a few years to see for themselves. And that is something to look forward to.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.