The University of Hawaii baseball team’s search for additional pitching followed Kalanianaole Highway.
Tyler Dyball, a 2018 Kaiser High graduate, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he is joining the Rainbow Warriors this coming academic year. Dyball said he is organizing his transcripts and should be ready to register this week for classes. UH’s fall semester begins Aug. 20.
“I grew up here,” said Dyball, a lifelong Hawaii Kai resident. “This is the team I really wanted to play for. It’s a dream come true, really.”
The right-hander is 6 feet 2 and 190 pounds. In addition to a fastball that can touch 88 mph, he is accomplished with a curveball, slider and changeup.
As a senior, Dyball was 2-3, but he pitched a two-hitter against Kalaheo and allowed only one hit against Campbell. He averaged 8.89 strikeouts per seven innings.
Dyball said he has been pitching since “before I can remember.” Pitching, it appears, is a family tradition. His father, Peter, and mother, Jennifer, were pitchers for UC Santa Barbara’s baseball and softball teams.
“It’s in my genes,” Tyler Dyball said.
Dyball said his father has been helpful in his baseball development. Growing up, Dyball and his father played Wiffle Ball in the backyard.
“He’s always tough,” Dyball said. “He had a big ego, too. He didn’t make it easy.”
The Dyball family also are long-time season-ticket holders for UH baseball games. “We’d always go,” Dyball said.
Dyball had hoped to attract interest from the ’Bows. His backup plan was to attend a junior college in California. Saddleback Community College, which former ’Bow Jackson Rees attended before transferring to UH, topped Dyball’s list.
But then Dyball was notified that UH had a roster spot if he was interested. “I took the opportunity,” Dyball said.
Dyball will know a familiar person at UH. UH coach Mike Trapasso also lives in Hawaii Kai.
“I used to see him at Safeway and stores like that,” Dyball said.
