Waiakea junior right-hander Caleb Freitas-Fields earned his nickname “Warrior Workhorse” two years ago, pitching a pair of memorable games on short rest.
Waiakea junior right-hander Caleb Freitas-Fields earned his nickname “Warrior Workhorse” two years ago, pitching a pair of memorable games on short rest.
In 2013, the Warriors gave the ball to the precocious freshman in the BIIF Division I semifinals, and he fired a three-hitter to oust Keaau 3-0 on a Friday.
The BIIF championship was rained out on Saturday. In a rare Sunday game, Hilo beat Waiakea 8-5 in 11 innings for the title.
Freitas-Fields — on one day’s rest — threw five innings in the loss, starting with four scoreless frames before allowing three runs in the 11th.
It was pretty obvious that Freitas-Fields was running on fumes. He pitched 12 total innings on short rest, and established his workhorse reputation.
Last season, Freitas-Fields solidified his status as one of the league’s best big-game pitchers in the BIIF’s inaugural best-of-three championship series.
He clocked in a seven-hitter to hold off heavy-hitting Hilo 6-5 in Game 2 for the league title.
It was no ordinary seven-inning, complete-game win, though. It was the definition of a workhorse performance.
The Vikings jumped on him for a 5-0 cushion after three innings. Then, Freitas-Fields stuffed them with goose eggs over the next four innings in the 6-5 comeback win.
The first two years Freitas-Fields was the No. 2 pitcher behind Kodi Medeiros, who’s now in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
It’s Freitas-Fields’ turn as staff ace and a chance to further polish his workhorse resume. He draws the BIIF season-opening start at 1 p.m. Saturday against Kealakehe at the Warriors Field.
“It’s a blessing and I’ve been lucky to pitch behind Kodi the last two years,” he said. “I’ve really watched how he focused because a lot of games he pitched were close games. Hopefully, being the ace I can bring some wins to Waiakea.”
From last year, Freitas-Fields is still the same height at 6 feet 1, but he added five pounds of muscle, mainly to his arms and legs. He’s now a husky 220 pounds.
He played on the Nobu Yamauchi RBI Junior (ages 14-15) travel team during the summer, and spent time long tossing and doing band exercises to build arm strength.
“I’ve been working on a changeup, and it’s coming along really good,” he said. “That’ll be a key pitch, besides my curveball.
“We’ve got a lot of returnees, and that helps push all the young guys. We want to win BIIFs, and it would be nice to catch a state title, too, but we have to work hard for it.”
First-year coach Rory Inouye was on Waiakea’s staff under the two previous head coaches, Jensen Sato and Kevin Yee.
Inouye, a 2007 Waiakea graduate and long-ago catcher, has seen the progression of his tough-minded ace through the years.
“He’s a workhorse,” said Inouye, a math teacher at the school. “Caleb has sat behind Kodi and learned from Kodi. It’s his turn to lead the team. He’s very capable of doing it. He wants it and works hard every day.”
The Warriors lost only three starters: Medeiros, catcher Tyler Aburamen and outfielder Grant Nonaka.
There are only three senior starters in first baseman Ryder Oshiro, second basemen Trevor Shimokusu and Mikey Jitchaku, and outfielder Devin Iwahashi, who continues a nondescript Waiakea outfield tradition.
Almost every year, the Warriors have a first-time starting senior in the outfield. Last year, it was Nonaka. It’s Iwahashi’s shot in his final campaign.
The other two outfielders are just sophomores. Gehrig Octavio will be in center and Nate Minami will be in left field.
Besides youth, both have loads of promise and smooth swings — Octavio from the left side and Minami a well-balanced stroke from the right.
Taylor Mondina, an athletic All-BIIF third baseman, slides over to shortstop and Freitas-Fields, sophomore Makoa Andres and senior Bryce Felipe will see time at third.
Junior catcher Mackanzy Maesaka gets the full-time job after logging mop-up minutes last season.
Andres, a right-hander, is slated to be the No. 2 starter, a role of increased importance with the best-of-three series for the BIIF semifinals and championship.
Calvin Uemura, who has pitched in pivotal games as a freshman, and fellow junior Bryce Yamashita will be the closers while senior Evan Ishihara serves as long relief.
“We’re young but we’ve got a lot of experience,” Inouye said. “They all see the big picture, win one game at a time, try to win BIIFs, get to states. Our seniors have really stepped up leadership-wise. As a leader, Ryder is a lot more vocal and takes charge.
“Evan saw how well Kodi did and he threw every day from the end of last season. The seniors are pushing the young guys. The big word we use is execution. To execute on offense and defense, we’ll always have the best shot at winning.”