Pitcher Atsushi Nohmi and second baseman Mark Minicozzi each wanted to improve on certain aspects of their game in Hawaii Winter Baseball. Both seem to be accomplishing their goals.

Nohmi pitched three-hit ball over five innings and Minicozzi blasted his fourth home run to lift Waikiki over Honolulu, 4-2, yesterday before 564 at Les Murakami Stadium. It was the only contest that wasn't a shutout in the series. The BeachBoys (13-11) won the series opener, 4-0, but the Sharks (10-14) returned the favor with a 3-0 win Saturday.

"I would love to have Nohmi," said Waikiki pitching coach Butch Hughes, of the Colorado Rockies organization. "I think he's a tremendous prospect. A matter of fact, I just got through telling him I'd like to take him back to Denver."

Nohmi (3-0) scattered three hits and two walks, while striking out three. The 5-foot-9, 154-pound left-hander completed his second season with the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. He said through an interpreter that he was instructed to work on his curveball and changeup in HWB. Apparently, he has been a quick study, as has Hirotaka Egusa, who pitched an inning of relief.

"They're very receptive (to learning)," Hughes said. "Nohmi has improved his curveball. The other kid, Egusa, has improved his curveball and his slider. And I've gotten Nohmi to throw a lot more changeups. They pay attention. They learn. They're good students."

Joe Woerman allowed a run in two innings of relief, followed by Egusa's one inning in which he allowed a run. Andrew Johnston notched his second save with a scoreless ninth.

Meanwhile, Minicozzi broke the scoreless deadlock with a solo homer to left-center with two outs off Sharks' starter Jeff Moore (1-3), who was charged with all four runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Minicozzi batted .282 with 23 doubles and four home runs and 77 RBIs at High-A San Jose, where his manager was Lenn Sakata, who also manages Waikiki. Minicozzi was told to learn to drive the ball in HWB.

"I had a tendency to drift and didn't hit for much power this season," Minicozzi said. "With Lenn Sakata, he worked with me on staying back on the ball and trying to drive balls a little better. I've had a lot of success with it so far, so it's been nice having Lenn Sakata out there. Everyday, he works with me on my swing."

Minicozzi leads the league with a .316 batting average and 19 RBIs.

The BeachBoys added three runs in the fifth. Chris Nelson's one-out, two-run single chased Moore out of the game. Nelson eventually scored on a wild pitch against Bruce Gallaway after stealing second and taking third on a ground out to make it 4-0.

The Sharks got a run in the seventh on Yoshiyuki Kamei's ground out to second after the first two batters in the inning reached on walks off Woerman and advanced on a sacrifice.

They added another run in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by pinch hitter Brian Bixler and Eric Nielsen.

Meanwhile at Hans L'Orange Park, Joba Chamberlain (2-2) allowed a run on three hits with five strikeouts to lead West Oahu over North Shore, 5-1.

Yasushi Iihara led off the game with a home run off starter Scott Koerber (3-1), who was charged with all five runs in four innings. Iihara's homer also was his fourth, tying him with Minicozzi for the league lead.

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Waikiki's Brian Anderson and Mark Minicozzi, West Oahu's Peter Ciofrone and Sean Kazmar, and North Shore's Blake DeWitt are scheduled to appear at Planet Fun in the Kunia Shopping Center from 6:30 to 8 tonight.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.