June 6, 2007

Erik Komatsu's decision to return to county has paid off with a Division I scholarship and a better draft standing

A rewarding risk

By Joe Curley

The Oxnard College baseball coaches explained the gamble to Erik Komatsu.

For his chance at Division I exposure and perhaps a better chance of being drafted professionally, he'd be giving up $30,000 in annual scholarship money.

Without a guarantee.

"It's one of the biggest decisions I've made in my life," said Komatsu of his decision to leave NAIA Vanguard University last year and return home to Oxnard College. "I was going on a whole new path."

It's a path the former Camarillo High outfielder didn't just blaze, but lit aflame with a power stroke that belies his 5-foot-10, 185-pound frame and shows that big power doesn't always come in big packages.

His clutch performance at a preseason showcase earned him scholarship offers from nearly 20 Division I schools, including Cal State Fullerton, to which he has committed.

And his performance during the California community college season made him one of the most feared hitters in the state and a potential selection Thursday in the top 10 rounds of this year's Major League Baseball Amateur draft.

In 44 games at Oxnard this spring, Komatsu hit .417 with 10 home runs and 51 RBIs. He struck out just 15 times in 180 at-bats.

"He may be 5-foot-10, but he hits like he's 6-4," said Oxnard assistant coach Roger Frash. "He has thunder in that bat."

He earned All-Western State Conference and all-state selections not just with his numbers, but with his play.

"We lost two games because of him," said Ventura College coach Donnie Adams. "He hit a home run (to win one game) and a double (in another).

"So I'm happy to see him go. ... He was scary in that lineup. He had the potential to hit it out every time he came out."

Komatsu led the state in hits (75) and total bases (127) and also finished in the top 5 statewide in doubles (18, 4th), home runs (10, 3rd), RBIs (51, 3rd), slugging percentage (.706, 4th) and average (.417, 5th).

"I've been at OC for 10 years and he's the best player that I've had a chance to coach on the hitting side," said Frash. "For pure hitting and power, we've had nobody come out of there like that."

That performance came in an Oxnard lineup crippled by the midseason injury of shortstop Joey Siddons and with a home field notorious for knocking down big flies.

"If he doesn't play at OC, he hits 20 home runs, simple," said Frash. "He didn't take one day off all season."

Komatsu couldn't afford to rest. A torn labrum in his throwing shoulder during a St. Louis Cardinals scout team tryout in September 2003 had already ruined his vital junior season at Camarillo High.

With the big schools out of the picture, he hit .380 with eight homers as a senior to salvage the scholarship to Vanguard. At the Orange County school, he hit .330 with eight homers to led the team in most offensive categories as a freshman.

But it was his performance last summer in the Northwoods summer league in Minnesota, when he hit .273 with 13 doubles with a wooden bat for the Brainerd Blue Thunder, that gave him the confidence to make the move.

"I was thinking, These guys are the best in the nation,' " said Komatsu.

And he was hitting third in the lineup.

A year later, Komatsu understands the road he's taken and ways in which he's changed.

"A lot of things did go wrong in high school," said Komatsu, "now it's evening out."

He's now urging Camarillo High stars like Garrett Rau to take the road he's taken.

"If you get drafted, don't sign out of high school," said Komatsu. "You need to go to junior college for two years and get bigger and stronger."

Komatsu's golden season didn't end with Oxnard. He spent last weekend in Phoenix and Tampa, Fla., working out for the Diamondbacks and Yankees.

In Florida, the Yankees gave him pinstripe pants and a mesh jersey with the No. 38 that Yogi Berra wore as a 21-year-old rookie in 1946.

His father and longtime hitting coach, Davy Sr., couldn't snap enough photos during the workout that included two doubles to deep center field.

"He was loving it," said Erik of his proud papa.

The gamble of a lifetime looks like the making of a career.

"I just felt like I had to," said Komatsu, of his reasons for making the move. "I didn't want to be that guy saying, I should have done this' or I could have done that.' "