The silence around Joey Cantillo has turned into a buzz. A very loud buzz.
The senior southpaw pitcher knows what a perfect weekday is like: breakfast, school, homework, practice, dinner, homework, sleep.
The perfect off day? Breakfast, head to campus, work out, maybe hit the beach, go home, eat mom’s fried chicken, sleep.
Born and raised in Kailua … snorkeling his favorite spots … life is simple … life is good.
He just happens to love baseball. It’s in his blood.
Joey is named after a grandfather, Joseph, and also a certain gentleman Hall of Famer known as Joltin’ Joe. Cantillo’s father, John Cantillo, was born and raised in New York City.
| Q&A
One-on-one with Joey Cantillo
Q: Six days a week, working out at Kailua’s baseball facility. Where does your work ethic come from?
A: I have an obsession to work hard and be the best. My dad instilled that in me.
Q: You grew at least an inch and a half since last season. How hard is your fastball now?
A: Upper 80s mph, touching 90.
Q: What do you throw?
A: Fastball, curve, slider, change.
Q: Are you prepared to consider pro ball if you’re drafted, say, in the fourth round or higher?
A: It’s all there, but I try not to think about it too much. When that time comes, I’ll talk with my family. I’m just trying to focus. I still got to work hard.
Q: Favorite athlete and what would you like to ask that person?
A: Clayton Kershaw. … Probably ask him his routine and how he does everything, his mind-set when he’s doing everything.
Q: Favorite team?
A: I love all Dodgers. I grew up kind of a Yankees fan because my dad’s from New York. I’ve been to a couple of games. Once I got into baseball, we had Oceanic Cable, the Dodgers channel, especially Kershaw.
Kershaw is just all around, a great guy. He’s the best pitcher, but off the field he does everything right, good in the community. His work ethic, he works super hard, definitely the one I strive towards. He definitely has his superstitions, a big routine guy. I like to have a routine like that going into a start.
Q: So what is your routine like?
A: It starts two hours before the game, listening to music, definitely something like Drake, just rap in general. When the team is together, we’re stretching. From that point on, once we start that I’m thinking of my game plan, executing my pitches, getting into my mind-set. I have a stretching (routine), one of my coaches does a stretching routine with me, and I always have to have my watermelon Rockstar.
Q: Hobby outside of sports?
A: Diving/Swimming. Not like competitive swimming. Just swimming at the beach with a snorkel and mask, going into deep water. Shark’s Cove would be up there. Secret Beach on west side, and then I guess anywhere North Shore where it’s flat.
Q: Favorite TV show?
A: “Supernatural.” It’s on Netflix. Thrilling, terrifying, exciting. It’s like a horror TV show, kind of. It has a good story to it, brothers who are hunting evil things. I’m not usually into that stuff, but one of my best friends showed me that.
Q: Favorite music artist?
A: Justin Bieber. He’s not the only guy I listen to. His new music is good, and some of his old music.
Q: Favorite class?
A: Art. I think I’m a pretty good artist. I’m not the best painter, but I can draw. Just whatever the art assignment is. I don’t have time to doodle.
Q: Favorite place to relax?
A: The ocean.
Q: Favorite motto/scripture?
A: Don’t let anyone else outwork you.
Q: What do you like to do — or what’s something else you’re good at — that would surprise most people?
A: I like to play basketball with my friends, and I’m pretty good at that, but I never really enjoyed it too much, organized basketball. But I loved baseball.
Q: What is your ultimate dream/bucket list?
A: Play Major League Baseball. … I’d like to visit Europe once in my life. Tahiti, one of those really nice islands.
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“My dad’s favorite player was Joe DiMaggio and my grandfather on my mom’s side was also named Joseph,” Cantillo said. “So they went with Joseph.”
What this Joey does is enough to create some electricity. Last year, the lankly lefty was a Star-Advertiser All-State first-team selection. He was 5-1 on the mound with a humongous save in the OIA championship game against Kalani. He tossed 392⁄3 innings with just seven earned runs (1.23 ERA), permitting just 19 hits. He struck out 51 and walked only 17.
That solidified what a good number of scouts near and far had begun to believe about his skills on the diamond. MaxPreps named him the top player for 2017 in Hawaii, and he was selected to the Area Code Games team, making a 20-player roster comprised of the best players from Hawaii, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.
Choice of college scholarships
Of Cantillo’s 12 scholarship offers, he narrowed them to three: UC Santa Barbara, Texas Tech and Kentucky, eventually signing with the Wildcats.
“Kentucky has everything I kind of wanted. The best coaching staff, to me. I really made a connection with them. We have the same values: family, hard work and team first,” Cantillo said.
There’s no doubt about the lure of playing in the SEC, as well.
“It’s a big school, 30,000 students. You get the true college experience, and the SEC is the best baseball conference in the country, the best facilities, nicest stadiums. All those are just a plus,” he said.
The ’16 Kailua Surfriders were loaded with savvy seniors, and the thrill of winning the OIA was tempered by a state quarterfinal loss to Campbell. This spring, the Surfriders open league play on Wednesday with just one senior, Cantillo, in the lineup.
“It’ll be interesting as we gain confidence,” Cantillo said.
“Joey is not much of a talker, but he’s his own person,” longtime Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said. “It’s the first time he’s been the oldest guy and he’s getting adjusted to it now. He tries to show it with his actions.”
Cantillo was 6 feet 3 a year ago and grew to 6-41⁄2 this spring, and he has filled out a bit to 225 pounds. He crafts a mix of pitches: fastball, curve, slider and changeup — more than the typical high school ace.
Growth in stature and skills
“He’s tall with his length plus velocity,” Ishigo said. “He was never a velocity guy until junior year. He’s always been a control guy.”
When Ishigo, a former Hawaii infielder, says “always,” that would be since Cantillo was in sixth grade or so.
“I”ve been coaching him since he was 11. I’ve seen him grow as a person and player.”
The willingness to work consistently and adapt new ways to train and prepare was instilled long before that.
“A lot of his character comes from his early days, his dad working on him. When he was a little kid, his dad worked him hard so the game would be fun for him later,” Ishigo said.
A bright, skilled young man excelling at public schools athletically and academically — he also carries a 3.8 grade-point average — is not always the norm. Cantillo started at Maunawili Elementary, then went to Kailua Intermediate.
“I was always in public education. Private school, it wasn’t something that was necessary for us,” Cantillo said of himself and older sister Kyla. “I’ve had really good people to help me along the way. Kailua’s like anywhere else in Hawaii. Kailua is beautiful, nice friendly people, small and quiet.”
Help from coaches and family
Reaching a peak year after year, that’s not so common either. He throws in the high 80s, occasionally touching 90 mph. Six days per week, he’s at Kailua’s baseball diamond working out with his coaches.
“My parents (Michelle and John), as well as Todd Takabuki, Kale Sumner, Travis Tesima, Grant Odo and Coach Corey — I would be nothing without them,” Cantillo said. “All these coaches, they do the extra and dedicate a lot of other free time and do a lot of stuff for us. They really care.”
Said Ishigo: “That’s what we have at Kailua. We treat all of them like family, not just a group of baseball players. In their off days, they’re there to get better and we get to be with them more than other teams.”
One area Cantillo works at diligently is hitting. He batted .324 last season, playing part-time at first base.
“I know I can do a lot better. I definitely put a lot of time into my hitting. I’m more of a contact guy. I don’t try to hit home runs — just get on base and help my team,” he said.
Ishigo has just one bit of advice for his future coaches in the Bluegrass State.
“They should let him hit, too. We’ll see this year,” Ishigo said. “People are going to see how good of a hitter he is.”
