Usually coach of the year awards go to those who win their league championships, for obvious reasons.

And it will be hard for Hawaii’s Rich Hill to get first-place votes for that honor in the Big West since Andrew Checketts led UC Santa Barbara to the league championship. The Gauchos overachieved too; only one voter in the preseason poll picked UCSB to win the conference, as Long Beach State was favored to take it.

No one predicted UH to win it. And why would they? Hill was taking over a program that had never even finished with a winning conference record since joining it a decade ago.

The Rainbows were chosen in preseason polls to finish sixth. Even that seemed overly generous when UH scuffled to an 8-16 start and was mired near the bottom of the conference at 2-6.

On Saturday, the Rainbow Warriors wrapped up Hill’s first season with a 6-4 win over Cal Poly. By virtue of winning the first two games of the series, the Mustangs finished second in the Big West, and the ’Bows third (19-11 and 28-24 overall after that horrid start). So, an argument can be made that Poly’s Larry Lee also deserves top coach consideration before Hill. Going into Saturday, Poly had won 13 games in a row.

But consider this:

The Mustangs have at least two players who are considered prime major league prospects.

One is pitcher Drew Thorpe, who led the nation in strikeouts and beat the ’Bows on Thursday despite allowing them three first-inning runs.

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Then there’s shortstop Brooks Lee, Larry’s son. Some experts say he’s the best hitter in college baseball and he’ll be the first pick in the upcoming draft. But the Rainbow pitchers limited him to one hit in 13 at-bats for the series.

“Crazy, huh?” Hill said. “(Pitching) Coach (Mathew) Troupe does a great job in his preparing our guys.”

Cal Poly took two out of three from UH with future big league talent. The Rainbow Warriors won Saturday’s finale and finished just two games behind the Mustangs with a guy who is going to be coaching next year and another one who spent time at a hospital after taking a ball off his face in Friday’s game.

Last week, Hill described left fielder Scotty Scott, who is from Texas, as bringing a “Friday Night Lights” vibe to the diamond. I agree. Scott approaches baseball with the ferocity of a football player. There are two other baseball players I think of with that mentality: Rickey Henderson and Shane Victorino.

Scott finishes his four years as a Rainbow as one of the program’s all-time fan favorites.

Scott was the heart of a team that was all heart. Is there any way to talk this guy into extending his “Party at the Les” one more season?

And look at Jacob Igawa. He’s the first baseman who took a bad hop off his mouth Friday and had to leave the game. Saturday he was back in the lineup.

“It’s a testament to his toughness,” Hill said.

Scott and Igawa figured in UH’s first run-scoring rally, in the second inning. The Warriors had three hits — three hit batsmen, that is — including Igawa, to load the bases with none out. After a popout and strikeout made it look like the opportunity would go to waste, Scott took a bean to force in a run — and reacted as joyously as if he’d just hit a grand slam.

Cole Cabrera’s first at-bat, in the first inning, was a special moment in a series full of them for the transfer from Cal Poly. He was batting against his good friend and former roommate, Dylan Villalobos.

“He got the best of me,” Cabrera said, after he grounded out sharply to shortstop.

That’s one way of looking at it. Another is that the eight-pitch battle so early in the game (and that included shots foul left and right) gave Cabrera’s teammates a great look at Villalobos’ stuff.

Some of the best plate appearances end with the batter jogging back to the dugout without reaching base safely, like Matt Wong’s sacrifice fly in the third that made it 2-0. And some don’t even advance a base runner.

“He had a great series,” Hill said of Cabrera. “Cal Poly’s close to his heart, but he had a chance to come back home and ignite UH baseball.”

On the mound, Cade Halemanu delivered one of his best outings of the year, and Tai Atkins kept the Mustangs at bay in relief.

The start of UH baseball’s resurgence in early April got lost in the shadow of the men’s volleyball team’s run toward its second national championship.

It certainly appears athletic director David Matlin made a great hire — regardless of whether Hill gets any recognition when the Big West announces its awards Thursday.

“I am so proud of this Rainbow Warrior team led by Rich and his staff,” Matlin said after Saturday’s game. “Rich’s leadership is contagious for baseball, UH athletics and our community.”