‘Bows add 2 more baseball recruits

After signing eight to the class of 2016 in the fall, the University of Hawaii baseball team is expected to add at least two more during the current spring signing period.

UH has received commitments from Huntington Beach High catcher Tyler Murray and INF/OF Josh Rojas of Paradise Valley Community College.

Murray, listed at 6-feet-1, 205 pounds, hit .292 with six doubles, a homer and 16 RBIs in 78 at-bats as a junior. Haven’t been able to find his senior year statistics.

Rojas, who could potentially play third base at UH next year, is hitting .323 with eight doubles, four triples, seven homers and 26 RBIs. He also has eight stolen bases and 27 walks in 127 official at-bats.

Murray gives Hawaii quite a stable of catcher with current starter Chayce Ka’aua, who is only a freshman, and Kamehameha senior Kekai Rios, who has been on a tear lately in the ILH. Rios has homered in two of his last three games and is hitting .364 (16-for-44) with five doubles, three homers and 14 RBIs.

The 2016 infield could be interesting with two sophomores (Ka’aua at catcher, Eric Ramirez at first) along with a returning senior in Jacob Sheldon-Collins at shortstop. J.J. Kitaoka and Alex Sawelson will get pushed at third by Rojas and Hawaii is also bringing in current high school freshmen Pikai Winchester of ‘Iolani and Ethan Lopez of La Mirada High in California to potentially replace four-year starter Stephen Ventimilia at second.

Lopez is hitting .371 (26-for-77) with six doubles, a triple and 16 runs scored while making only one error. Winchester has been blasting ILH pitching, hitting .455 (15-for-33) with five doubles, a triple and 12 RBIs.