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Rabauliman earns NWAC Western Division 2nd team
Slowly, Jeremy Rabauliman’s efforts are bearing fruit as the former Saipan Little League standout earned a selection to the Northwest Athletic Conference Western Division second team.
Rabauliman
Rabauliman and the Lower Columbia College Red Devils clinched the NWAC Baseball Championship after posting a 6-1 triumph over the Mount Hood Saints in the rubber match last week.
LCC, the fourth seed in the tournament, went undefeated as it swept all of its five games in the double elimination round. The Red Devils dropped a 2-1 decision against the Saints in the title opener that forced the do-or-die match.
Rabauliman finished with a 6-1 record and 3.09 ERA in the seven games he started for the Red Devils this season.
His numbers was more impressive in the entire conference as he went 4-0 with a 2.79 ERA in the 38.2 innings he pitched for LCC. He only gave up 37 hits with 24 strikeouts and 15 walks.
Red Devils coach Eddie Smith, in an interview by The Daily News, praised Rabauliman’s stint this season.
“Jeremy’s unselfishness is probably the best thing. He never lets anything be too serious, but has a way of getting locked in and having a monster mindset when he’s on the mound,” said Smith of the infielder-turned-pitcher.
Rabauliman is hoping to someday become the first Pacific Islander to pitch in the Major League. He moved to South Seattle more than three years ago where he studied at Kentridge High.
Rabauliman, who didn’t have a pitching coach before, said in the same TDN interview that he was at first uncomfortable playing and living in the mainland, and it took him quite sometime before he fully adjusted.
“Everything in life here was different. The type of baseball here is different than what we played at home, and I had to get used to my role and working my way up,” said Rabauliman, who rode the bench early in his career with Kentridge High.
He was named to the Class 4A All-State team that earned him a place on the Kentridge Hall of Fame.
Rabauliman’s coach at Kentridge, John Flanigan, encouraged him to continue his baseball career with LCC. He also plans to continue his studies in sports medicine at Lewis-Clark State.
