Meet Rikuu Nishida the 'glue' of a dynamic Hyannis Harbor Hawks team

HYANNIS — It's hard to miss Rikuu Nishida when he's on the field. Despite being listed at 5-foot-6, Nishida's presence and personality are way bigger than his height.

Mostly playing second base for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks, Nishida plays with a style and flair all his own.

Harbor Hawk teammate Nolan Schanuel, who Nishida refers to as "Dad" describes him as "unique." From the right-handed practice swings Nishida takes even though he's a lefty, to raising his hand before each ground ball hit to him at the Cape League's Fenway Day, to not even watching baseball on TV, the word certainly fits.

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That uniqueness is what has gotten him to this point. A product of the same high school as San Diego Padres righty Yu Darvish, it was both Nishida's abilities as a player, and his temperament as a person, that led him to be the captain of his high school baseball team, which had over 100 players.

"That (him being captain) gives you a little background as to his character, and the kind of affect he has on everyone around him," Hyannis head coach Eric Beattie said. "We call him the glue, he really holds us together. Everybody loves him, (and) he loves everybody. There's just not many people like him, he's special."

From high school in Japan, Nishida found himself stateside, playing Junior College baseball in Gresham, Oregon, at Mt. Hood Community College, where his baseball trajectory changed.

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Playing in the NJCAA, Nishida found a lot of success across two seasons. He hit .389 during his time with the Saints, swiping 91 bases and scoring 100 runs.

In addition to playing well for the Saints, Nishida showcased his talents in the summer, playing for the West Coast League's Cowlitz Black Bears.

It was there that he caught the attention of Hyannis Harbor Hawks General Manager Nicholas Johnson, who said the team recruits heavily out of other collegiate summer leagues. After Nishida hit well over .300 for the summer, with 28 steals, all while using a wooden bat both at school, and over the summer, Johnson was convinced.

"I was looking for speed to be honest, so I was looking at their (The WCL's) stolen base leaders and I came across Rikuu's season," Johnson said. "He had just come off a season where he batted over .400 (at Mt. Hood) with 40+ stolen bases. So I said height be damned, this kid can play."

And play he can. This summer, Nishida leads the league in stolen bases with 24, and has scored 24 runs, which is second on the team. He's played a pivotal role in Hyannis' success this season batting out of the No. 9 spot.

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This came as no surprise to Johnson, who had no doubts that Nishida's skillset would translate to Cape Cod fields. Nishida though, was admittedly nervous coming into the season, arriving from the JUCO level.

"I'm from JUCO (where) everyone throws 85, 86, but everyone (here) throws 99." Nishida said.

Johnson thinks Nishida being open and transparent about his nerves allowed others on the team to feel open as well. Nishida quickly settled in thanks to relationships he formed with his teammates, including his "Dad" Schaunel, who he threw with the first day of the season.

"Everyone's good here, (and) everyone is funny, so I've had fun." Nishida said.

His coach saw the initial struggles with the transition but credits Nishida's willingness to learn, as for why he's ultimately found success amongst premier competition.

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"His first week here he got picked off four times," Beattie said. "If you take that first week away from his numbers, I think his numbers would exponentially better. A lot of that is a credit to how willing and able he is to make adjustments."

Throughout it all, Nishida has always been himself, and because of that, he's become a team and fan favorite this summer for the Harbor Hawks. He can be heard yelling support of his teammates from the field and the dugout, and is often the first person to congratulate anyone after a good play.

"He's got a great personality, but his energy is unmatched," Schaunel said, and many others agree.

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It's a representation of the Harbor Hawks team dynamic as a whole. The team bonded early and often, and what has resulted has been a team not short on quirks, fun, and characters.

Watch any Harbor Hawks game this summer and that attitude is on full display. There are loud cheers from the bullpen when a Hyannis player makes a highlight-reel play. There's a good luck charm in the dugout that was born when Hyannis was down several players due to COVID, but that didn't stop the Harbor Hawks from going on a run. The team has genuinely bonded with each other in a way not every team does, much to the pleasure of the man who constructed the roster, Johnson.

"We thought we were bringing a good group of high-character kids, but in the first week coach Beattie said this is a special group. … they've really gelled, they really get along," Johnson said. "Every other fanbase talks about how funny these guys are, and that is unique. I haven't seen that before on the Cape."

That bond has translated directly to wins this summer. Hyannis finds itself locked in a tightly-contested battle for first place in the West Division with the Cotuit Kettleers and Bourne Braves.

The Harbor Hawks have leaned on each other after the team took a loss against the Kettleers last Wednesday night in large part due to five defensive errors. They successfully turned it around Friday night in the rematch, winning 7-3, with Nishida's three hits, three runs scored and two steals at the heart of it.

After the game, Hyannis and Michigan State shortstop Mitch Jebb credited the team's chemistry as a key to them shaking off the earlier loss.

"As a team, we're all really loose, and I think that really benefits us in the long run, because we're not so uptight about a loss."

Whether it's on the field, on the mini golf course or in the dugout, the Harbor Hawks always have fun. A collective whole greater than the sum of its parts, with Nishida, the glue, holding it all together.

Contact André Simms at asimms@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @that1guyandre.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape League: Rikuu Nishida at center of Hyannis Harbor Hawks success