Import driven

Arizona Western leadoff hitter Takashi Matsuo produced a typical day in the Matadors' doubleheader sweep last Tuesday at Cochise College. He went 4-for-8 from the plate and scored four times.

But head coach John Stratton was amazed by one particular at-bat the freshman from Japan had that day. Matsuo squared around to bunt and popped a pitch up in the air and over the pitcher's head, dropping the ball with surgical precision in no-man's land behind the mound for an infield single.

"It drops right behind (the pitcher) and there's no play and I just go, 'Wow,' Stratton said. "You can't tell a guy to try to do that because they'll fail all of the time. But he did it and I didn't say a word to him. If he can operate the bat that well, then you just let him go."

It's hard for Stratton to say much of anything to Matsuo, who knows nothing more than a few words of basic English and baseball lingo. However, that hasn't prevented the slap-hitting outfielder from taking the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference by storm.

Matsuo leads the league in batting average (.445) and is near the top in both runs (37) and hits (53).

"Sometimes baseball can be a universal language," said Stratton, who has coached several other Japanese players at AWC in the past. "They learn a couple of baseball words, and then the signs are pretty easy to pick up. (Matsuo) is a really smart kid, so he doesn't miss many signs and then he starts understanding more.

"The biggest thing is his instincts are so good that the language barrier isn't as big a problem. I've had that happen with several Japanese guys, where there's a few times when we lose out because of communication, but it is far outweighed by their talent and how they play."

Stratton was first alerted to Matsuo's talents by a Japanese scout based in Phoenix who helps place foreign players at U.S. colleges due to a shortage of opportunities for them in their own country. A former ACCAC assistant coach now at Odessa College (Texas) later brought in Matsuo for a workout and was ready to sign him before running into trouble with the international paperwork.

That led the Odessa coach to contact Stratton and he eventually brought Matsuo to Yuma for a tryout.

"We knew we had a pretty good player but, to be honest, I didn't think he was that good," Stratton said. "When you just work a guy out, you could see that he makes contact but you can't see what happens in a game."

Once the fall season began, Matsuo flourished and earned himself a role in the starting lineup as a leadoff hitter, which Stratton said initially caught the freshman off guard.

"I really enjoy playing here," Matsuo said through translator Mayumi Maki, an employee in AWC's financial aid office who has helped Stratton with communication this year. "The environment here was so much different than in Japan, so there was a moment where I had to adjust. But I just really love baseball, so I'm enjoying life here.

"Before I came, I thought American baseball was more like an individual sport and all about home runs. But when I arrived and experienced it, I found that it was about team play. I kind of surprised myself how well I'm hitting and now I feel some pressure to keep scoring runs and getting on base."

Matsuo's unorthodox, Japanese-style of getting on base in any way possible has helped the Matadors, who host Pima Community College in a doubleheader beginning at noon today, turn from a below-average offensive team last year to the top run-scoring squad in the ACCAC. A slap single through a hole in the infield or drag bunt followed by a quick step out of the batter's box to first base is what Matsuo's game is about.

"He's one of our better runners, but on a 60-yard dash he's maybe only the seventh- or eighth-fastest guy on the team," Stratton said. "But home to first, he's as fast or faster than anybody because of his style."

"(Japanese players) are very easy to coach," Stratton added. "In their culture, young people are very respectful to adults, even more so than here.

"We don't mess with how he does things. If he does what I think he can do, he'll create havoc and he does."

Scott Jungman can be reached at sjungman@yumasun.com or 782-6520.

PIMA AT ARIZONA WESTERN (DH)

First pitch: Noon today.

Last games: AWC swept a doubleheader at Cochise 6-2 and 4-3; Pima split at Chandler-Gilbert 3-4 and 2-0.

Records: AWC (26-10-1, 15-5 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference); Pima (22-12, 12-6).

Players to watch: AWC leadoff hitter Takashi Matsuo leads the ACCAC in batting average (.445) and is third in hits (53)....Pima pitcher Robbie Nickols has posted a 1.41 earned-run average over 58 innings and ranks among the conference-leaders in strikeouts with 56.

AWC coach John Stratton's comments: "We're playing really well right now and have good balance. We don't have anyone in the top five in RBIs, but we have a lot of good hitters....We watched (Pima) a little bit at their tournament a couple of weeks ago to see what their pitchers look like and they're solid. They're a good club with good pitching."

The lowdown: The Aztecs and head coach Edgar Soto, who played for Stratton and AWC in 1988 and 1989, haven't lost to the Matadors in two years....Right-handers Tyler Shaddy (5-1) and Mario Rivera (4-1) will get the starting nods for AWC, while lefty Lee Taylor (4-1) and righty Chapo Delgado (4-4) take the mound for Pima....Today's doubleheader will pit the top hitting team in the ACCAC against the top pitching team. AWC owns a league-best .335 team batting average, while the Aztecs have an eye-popping 1.91 team ERA....The Matadors, winners of seven of their past nine, head into an April in which they host six of the final nine regular-season doubleheaders.

- Scott Jungman