Freshmen making an impact for UH baseball

It is not surprising three Hawaii freshmen have made a splash this baseball season.

“We pick ’em up and throw them in the deep end,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said of his freshman-orientation approach. “This is why you came here. We focus right away on the important things and the understanding that you’re here to get your degree and you’re here to be a great teammate. Those are the two jobs you have. Everything else is just noise outside of that. We’re not going to put up with the noise. The guys learn right away it’s school and baseball, and if you do things the right way, you’ll have a great time, a great experience.”

Shortstop Dustin Demeter, outfielder Adam Fogel and designated hitter Logan Pouelsen have made an immediate impact. Demeter leads the ’Bows with 25 RBIs. Fogel has a team-high 12 doubles. Pouelsen, who also can play first, is batting .324 with seven of his 22 hits going for extra bases.

“They’re no longer freshmen after what they’ve been through,” said Trapasso, whose ’Bows open a three-game series tonight against Cal State Fullerton. “They’ve been good for us all year. They’ve been good from the beginning, from the fall. It starts with talent. They’ve got talent. They’ve got skills.

In preliminary evaluations, Demeter was told he would be picked in the fifth round of the 2016 draft if he opted to bypass college. Instead, Demeter held firm to his UH commitment. The Miami Marlins selected him in the 38th round.

“I made the right choice without a doubt,” Demeter said. “I never questioned it.”

With a smooth left-handed swing, Demeter has displayed all-fields power. He has shown patience batting behind leadoff hitter Dylan Vchulek, who has reached base in 39 consecutive games.

Demeter had struggled handling grounders on opposing team’s grass fields. But he did not commit an error in three games against Cal State Northridge last weekend, and finished the series when he fielded a ricochet and threw out a runner at first from deep short.

Fogel can play corner outfield positions and first base. He said he is adjusting to college’s superior pitching. “It’s different from high school, for sure, because you’re seeing harder throwing with plus stuff,” Fogel said. “You can’t take any at-bats off.”

Fogel says he has done well academically in his first UH year. Wednesday was the last day of instruction for UH’s spring semester. “The baseball adjustment was more difficult than school,” Fogel said.

Pouelsen was a highly regarded pitcher set to attend UCLA when he suffered a torn ligament in his right (throwing) elbow as a Huntington Beach (Calif.) High senior. In March 2016, he underwent Tommy John surgery in which a tendon was taken from his left hamstring to replace the ulnar ligament.

“I wasn’t able to run for a couple of months, not even jog,” said Pouelsen, who was then informed UCLA felt it would be best if he looked elsewhere to play.

Soon after, he accepted an offer from the ’Bows. “We knew, most likely, he wouldn’t be able to pitch for us this year,” Trapasso said. “But we love the left-handed bat. We knew he’d still bring value with the bat his freshman year.”

For four months after the surgery, Pouelsen couldn’t swing because he did not have full arm extension. In the first two weeks of fall training, he was admittedly hesitant about facing live pitching for the first time in several months. But he found his groove, and he already has hit two home runs this season. On Sunday, he singled home the go-ahead run with an opposite-field hit to left.

During a bullpen session, Pouelsen’s once 90-plus-mph fastball reached 88 mph on the Stalker radar gun. He won’t pitch in any games this season but will attempt a return to the mound in summer ball.

“I love it out here,” Pouelsen said. “I love the coaches, love the guys, love the Les (Murakami Stadium). You can’t beat playing in Hawaii.”