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Last month, the University of Hawaii baseball team lost its 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, it has lost its starting center fielder for an indefinite period.
Matt Wong, a junior, suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during a recent workout and underwent surgery on Tuesday.
“Hopefully, he’ll be ready for February,” said head coach Mike Trapasso, who declined to predict a recovery timeline. “He’ll be ready when he’s ready. If we have our fall (training), he’ll just spend the fall rehabbing.”
During the abbreviated 11-6 season, Wong proved to be a top defender and a promising hitter in starting all 17 games. Wong handled the troublesome crosswinds at Les Murakami Stadium. He did not commit an error while throwing out two runners.
“He’s a plus defender with about as good an arm as you’ll find in college baseball,” Trapasso said.
Wong, who is 6-2 and 200 pounds, often aligned in mid-to-shallow center, using his speed and long strides to snag drives to the gaps.
After a slow start at the plate, Wong found his groove in the last six games against then-No. 2 Vanderbilt and Oregon. He hit .364 in those games while tying a school record with two triples in a game against Oregon. In the first 11 games, Wong struck out in 30.8% of his plate appearances; he fanned 16% in the next six games.
“He had come up with some big at-bats for us,” Trapasso said, a reference to Wong’s .368 average with runners on base.
Although the Manoa campus is closed through this semester, the athletic department’s training room is available through appointments.
“He’s a hard worker, and he’ll work hard on his rehab, and hopefully he’ll get back to 100%,” Trapasso said. “When that is, we’ll have to wait and see. … I feel bad for Matt. … It was kind of a freak thing. It’s unfortunate. We hope he’s doing OK, and hope the rehab process works out well.”
Wong is a 2017 Saint Louis School graduate who twice was named to the All-State second team. He played two seasons at College of Southern Nevada before transferring to UH last August. Under the NCAA’s new ruling, Wong will retain his junior-class standing next season.
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