Three schools in four years, a position change he didn’t know was coming and the shooting death of a person directly in front of his dormitory.

Caleb Duhay isn’t lying when he says, “It’s been a pretty crazy journey so far.”

The 2014 ‘Iolani graduate, who was strictly a pitcher in his two years at junior colleges in Arizona and California, is now the starting right fielder and No. 3 hitter for a Coppin State baseball team that is closing in on a NCAA tournament berth after starting the year 1-11-1 in its first 13 games.

Recruited to Coppin State in Maryland as a pitcher, Duhay has played in 67 games primarily in the outfield.

New to the school in the fall of 2016, Duhay ran a 60-yard dash during a scout day event at the school.

In junior college, Duhay had never participated in a workout for scouts and sprints were reserved for position players, so it was his first serious sprint since his high school days as both an outfielder and a pitcher with the Raiders.

“I just went out there trying to run as fast as I can because I hadn’t run a 60 in forever,” Duhay said. “I ran a good time and so the next scrimmage Coach wanted to see me in the outfield. He stuck me out there and I was kind of dumbfounded about the whole thing and the next thing I knew, I was hitting again and playing in the field catching balls.”

Duhay started 20 games and hit .236 with three doubles as a junior.

This season, the 6-foot Duhay has improved his average nearly 100 points, batting .328 over 29 starts with 11 doubles, three triples, a homer and 30 RBIs.

The Eagles won just one nonconference game but are 16-4 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and are a win away from clinching the Northern Division and a bye in the conference tournament.

The winner receives an automatic berth to an NCAA regional.

“I know the overall record probably doesn’t show it, but we’ve got a lot of talent this year, and I think that we’ve had a lot of leaders step up and push players to become better,” Duhay said. “If I were to describe us in one word this year that has really changed it’s ‘toughness.’ We’ve had some adversity this season and we’ve only overcome it because of our toughness.”

It takes a special kind of toughness off the field to handle life at Coppin State, a historically black college located in the heart of Baltimore.

The homicide rate in the city has jumped significantly in the past three years, and Duhay says he’s heard gunfire ring out “a handful of times.”

Last semester, campus police shot a suspect directly in front of the dormitory where Duhay lives.

He watched the suspect lie on the ground and eventually die at the scene.

“I don’t think about the fact that there are murders and drugs happening right outside our campus, but you do have to be careful out here,” Duhay said. “Being here has really opened my eyes. This place puts everything into perspective and makes me so grateful to be from where I’m from.”

Despite the danger, there was no way Duhay wasn’t going to accept a scholarship offer from Coppin State.

After spending a year each at two junior colleges, Duhay figured his Division I college dreams were over as he finished his season at Santa Barbara City College.

“At that point in my life, I was desperate. I was desperate for a chance. I wanted somebody to give me an opportunity,” Duhay said. “I’m so grateful for these coaches (at Coppin State) to give me that opportunity, because I’ve fallen in love with the game that I was kind of struggling with while pitching. Once I started playing the field, everything felt free to me.

“I got my love for the game back, and now, even though this might be my last season, I’m having as much as fun as I’ve ever had.”