Baldwin grad ready for major league chance

A year ago--after he pitched just one inning all season--Bubba Hoopii-Tuionetoa thought his baseball career was likely to be over at the end of his senior season at Baldwin High School.

A discussion with his father, Siiva Tuionetoa, changed all of that.

"I was thinking that I was going to be finished after high school," Hoopii-Tuionetoa said. "I didn’t really expect to be in the position I am now after last year."

After his second straight trip to the Senior League World Series last summer, "My dad took me aside and said: ‘You should probably take this more seriously.’ I started working out with him, hit the weight room, started throwing a lot. I was at practice one day and – I don’t know--it just happened."

Monday through Wednesday, the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft will be held. Armed with a fastball that touched 96 mph this season, there is little doubt that Hoopii-Tuionetoa will receive a call from an MLB organization.

 "It’s crazy, overwhelming somewhat, but hard work, dedication pays off,"  Hoopii-Tuionetoa said. "When you get the chance and opportunity of a lifetime, it’s very exciting."

Baldwin head coach Shane Dudoit is acting as Hoopii-Tuionetoa’s advisor through the draft process. He sees the lanky right-hander going in the ninth to 14th round.

Dudoit said he has never any story quite like this one.

"Not at all, bruddah," Dudoit said. "That’s why he’s so attractive to scouts. It’s because there’s not a lot of mileage on his arm, he’s got a very fluid delivery."

Hoopii-Tuionetoa has the option of attending Yavapai Junior College in Arizona if the draft doesn’t go as planned, but Dudoit sees a professional player in the making.

His repertioire includes the fastball, change-up, slider, and a nasty split-finger.

"One of the scouts told me that their upper management did say: ‘Look for guys throwing the split-finger’ because according to SABR metrics that’s the pitch that gets guys out," Dudoit said. "It just so happens that Bubba’s got a great split-finger that he’s already got a feel for. To accompany that with a 93-, 94-mile per hour fastball down, which guys project to maybe 96, 97 in a year, is something that upper management--the guys that pay the bills, the guys that want to win games, and need to make money--that’s the kind of guys they’re looking at, brah."

The Division I state-champion Bears (13-1 Maui Interscholastic League, 22-3-1 overall) checked in at No. 8 in the USA Today Super 25 rankings on Wednesday.

"It was a Baldwin Bears takeover this year," Hoopii-Tuionetoa said. "I have no words for it. It was great, one of the best seasons ever."

Hoopii-Tuionetoa intends to start his professional career as soon as he can.

"I feel like if I start, earlier, younger, I will be more, like, coming out fresh and having a better mindset towards professional baseball," Hoopii-Tuionetoa said. "I feel like if I start now, I will be able to understand the game more."

After a league season in which he went 5-0 with 36 strikeouts, nine walks, seven hits, and no earned runs allowed in 30 innings pitched, Hoopii-Tuionetoa showed off a stellar glove in center field and hit .600 with seven RBIs in three state tournament games where he was named the Most Outstanding Player.

He said he is most likely going to be picked as a pitcher.

"I was told by one team that they don’t know if they want me as a center fielder or a pitcher, but other than that the rest are pretty much just looking at me as a pitcher," he said. "The most interest is probably the Texas Rangers."

His presence brought several scouts to Maui throughout the season and may have vaulted teammates Chayce Akaka (.479, 13 RBIs, 14 runs in MIL play) and Nainoa Keahi into draft chances.

"I take a lot of pride in that," Hoopii-Tuionetoa said. "If the scouts came to see me, I’m pretty sure they came to see other people, too. Chayce, Nai, all the younger kids. I can’t explain."