Ishikawa Goals For Double The Enjoyable

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Any day taking part in baseball is an effective day for Kenny Ishikawa. When you may pitch and hit, that is double the enjoyable.

“If I have a good day at the plate, it’s good. If I have a good day on the mound, it’s good. If I have a good day on the mound and at the plate, that’s almost like the best thing I could ever do,” Ishikawa stated with a giant smile throughout a current interview at Foley Field.

Over the summer season, Ishikawa, from Yokohama, Japan, transferred to Georgia after one season at Seattle University. As a freshman final season, he batted .318 with 23 doubles whereas additionally placing out 73 batters in 66.1 innings on the mound, and he’ll pitch and hit for the Bulldogs this spring.

“When you’re young, you’re always doing both,” Ishikawa stated of being a two-way participant. “Up until high school, you’re still doing both, and then, I just couldn’t decide which one I wanted to do, because I really love doing both. I think I can get better at both, so I just want to keep working really hard to improve at everything.

“I simply actually love being on the mound and being within the field and within the outfield. I do not know if I’m going to do each after I go within the greater ranges (of baseball), however proper now, this 12 months, I’m making an attempt to do each and be an impression participant proper right here.”

When you’re a talented hitter and pitcher from Japan as Ishikawa is, being compared to Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is going to happen. The comparisons are probably inevitable, if a bit unfair.

Ohtani, of course, is, at age 31, already one of the greatest baseball players ever. With every jaw-dropping performance, like when he hit three homers and struck out 10 batters in a game to close out the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, Ohtani makes his case as the best to ever roam a diamond.

The 21-year-old Ishikawa probably won’t be the next Ohtani, but he can be the best version of himself for the Bulldogs and whichever teams he plays for down the road. Besides, Ohtani is mobbed everywhere he goes in Japan, Ishikawa said, and that doesn’t look too appealing.

“I do not suppose I need to be that well-known, however I do need to be good at baseball as a lot as him,” Ishikawa said. “I feel it is enjoyable to be that good — hitting homers day by day and throwing 100 miles per hour on the mound.”

Wes Johnson, Georgia’s Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach, said he’s coached numerous two-way players during his long career, but “I’ve by no means had one at a stage on either side of the ball as excessive as Kenny. Kenny will hit for us and play within the discipline, and can pitch rather a lot for us. So, a really, very particular expertise.”

It requires a lot of work to hone and maintain that talent. From practice sessions for each discipline to strength and conditioning, to taking care of a body that is asked to do so much, Ishikawa puts in a tremendous amount of time and energy into being a two-way player.

“It is enjoyable, I’m not going to lie, and I simply attempt to have enjoyable out on the sphere, however you are going to should make extra sacrifices than others,” he said.

Because of the limits on how much time coaches can spend with players, Ishikawa has to do a lot of his work on his own, Johnson said.

“We gave him a very good plan, however like I say, there’s solely so many hours in a day and and there is solely so many hours we get to work with Kenny, and he has taken the plan, whether or not or not it’s he is with me all day pitching, or whether or not he is been with Coach (Will) Coggin and Coach (Nick) Ammirati hitting, then he is doing his pitching on his personal. It’s been extraordinarily spectacular to see,” Johnson said.

Ishikawa learned the game from his father, Noriki, who was a good baseball player in Japan. He met Ishikawa’s mother, Denise, who is from the United States, while playing in Hawaii. Ishikawa didn’t plan on coming to play college ball in the U.S., but after playing summer ball in Portland, Ore., Seattle reached out to see if he was interested in playing for the Redhawks, who compete in the WAC.

“I used to be like, why not shoot my shot,” he said.

And that’s what he’s doing at Georgia, too. Ishikawa said he was sold on the Bulldogs quickly after entering the transfer portal and then talking with Johnson and the coaches.

“It was the teaching workers, for certain, and with the ability to play within the SEC,” he said. “It’s a better stage of competitors, and I’ll be seen by extra scouts.”

Ishikawa has already been drafted, by the Orix Buffaloes in the sixth round of the Nippon Professional Baseball Draft Conference on Oct. 23. Johnson said some MLB scouts he’s talked to really like Ishikawa as a pitcher, while others are more interested in him as a hitter, which is a huge compliment to Ishikawa.

“You know, you very seldom come throughout gamers at that top of a stage the place the room is split on what they suppose they’ll do” as a professional,” Johnson stated. “That just is a testament to how good he really is.”

The Bulldogs, who’ve been going via fall follow for a number of weeks, will play an exhibition sport in opposition to West Georgia at Foley Field on Sunday at midday. The occasion is free and open to the general public. Georgia opens its season on Feb. 13, in opposition to Wright State.

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the workers author for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can discover his work at: Frierson Files.