It began in a small yard at a modest home on Pokai Bay Drive.
A toddler grew up next to the ocean with his four older brothers, a younger brother and a younger sister. Chaseten Rice was always in the yard longing to throw a ball with his dad, Charles. Every day, hour after hour, a 2-year-old who had no interest in surfing, fishing or anything in that ocean.
Eventually, Charles was tossing a ball to Chaseten, who swung his mighty bat over and over. Over the years, the young right-hander found his niche. Throwing the ball became his craft. His mastery included a changeup he learned as a freshman at Waianae.
Now a senior, 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 183 pounds, Rice is having one of the best pitching seasons in school history. Though Waianae is classified as a Division II baseball team, coach Ben McQuown scheduled an all D-I nonconference schedule.
The tough schedule was exactly what Rice and his senior classmates wanted. For McQuown, the former baseball and football standout from Waianae, it was automatic.
“I love watching this guy pitch. As a coach, I get to see him put in the work every day the way he does. He never, ever has a bad outing. He keeps giving us a chance to win a game,” he said.
McQuown played under coach Kekoa Kaluhiokalani at Waianae, redshirted at Lewis Clark State, then played at Lower Columbia Community College for two years. He played his final two collegiate years at Campbell, a Division I program in North Carolina. After two years in the minors, he finished up his degree in sports management at Campbell, joining the staff as a graduate assistant. He returned to the islands with the coaching bug. McQuown was surprised when Kaluhiokalani, who became athletic director, hired him.
“I had no head coaching experience, but he has faith in me,” McQuown said.
Rice, he noted, is a bit of a barometer for the team’s personality and mood.
“Chaseten can be laid back, but he’s one of the more talkative players on our team. He likes to keep it loose and joke around, even during games. He’s got an eccentric personality,” McQuown said. “He is one of the better pitchers in the state. He might not have the recognition of the ILH guys, but a lot of guys are reaching out to him to play on their summer ball teams. A lot of coaches didn’t know about Waianae baseball or who he was.”
Waianae’s prowess is fitting for a senior group that grew up playing together for the Razorbackz. Rice picked up jersey No. 8 along the way and stuck with it. His mother, Raynette, is born on Nov. 8.
“I wear it because of her, wore it my whole life,” he said.
Raynette Rice has been team mom since Pinto baseball days for Chaseten and younger brother Cayzen, who is now a junior outfielder.
“At home, my dad is cool and my mom is the enforcer,” Chaseten said. “She always goes the extra mile, buying bentos and pizza for our teams. She loves all the kids.”
In their season opener on Maui, Rice faced the defending co-state champion Sabers. Four shutout innings, one hit, three strikeouts and no walks. After Rice exited, Maui rallied for a 4-1 victory.
Two days later, Rice went the distance against a solid King Kekaulike squad for a three-hit shutout. He fanned seven and walked two in Waianae’s 7-0 win. Before the game with King Kekaulike, Waianae lost to Kamehameha-Hawaii 5-4. The Warriors are now ranked No. 5 in the state.
“We learned we had to work on some things, on our pitching,” Rice said.
Ten days later, the Seariders played at No. 2 Mililani, where Rice pitched four innings, allowing two runs on two hits with five K’s and one walk. He was the winning pitcher in Waianae’s stunning 4-3 victory.
During the D-II regular season, Waianae played D-I teams Pearl City and Kaiser, losing both games. Rice went four innings against the Chargers, allowing one earned run on one hit with four strikeouts and three walks in a no-decision. Against Kaiser, currently No. 6, Rice went four innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with one strikeout and two walks.
In five appearances against D-I competition, Rice is 2-0 with a 1.84 ERA in 19 innings with 20 strikeouts and eight walks. In five appearances against OIA D-II opponents, he is 4-0 with a 0.54 ERA. In 26 innings, he has fanned 36 with five walks.
Waianae is 7-0 in league play, 10-2 overall.
“The best thing about him, he’s got multiple pitches. He changes his arm slot, so he’s not real predictable,” longtime Mililani coach Mark Hirayama said. “He’s got pretty good command and throws everything for strikes. He’s tough to hit.”
On Friday, Rice went nine innings against Kapolei, allowing four hits and no runs. He struck out 11 and walked one before departing at the pitch-count maximum. Waianae won it in 10 innings, 2-1.
“He’s a strong kid. He threw 100-something pitches after throwing 50-something a couple days earlier,” Hirayama said. “They’ve got some pretty athletic guys. They’re buying in to what Coach Ben is doing. That’s half the battle. You’re not going to get by with one guy. It takes everyone going in the same direction to win. In the OIA and state tournaments, you have to play three days in a row. You can’t rely on one guy.”
For the full season, Rice is 6-0 with a 1.09 ERA, 56 strikeouts, 13 walks and 25 hits allowed in 45 innings.
“It’s all mental, being mentally strong. I just think, dominate,” Rice said. “That’s what my pitching coach (Chad Bailey) always tells me. Dominate the strike zone. Let the defense work.”
If the Seariders qualify for the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball D-II State Championships, there is quite the reward. All three days of the tourney are scheduled at Les Murakami Stadium. The D-I state championships will be on Maui. Doing it with his childhood friends and teammates means everything.
Winning the OIA and state crowns would be golden.
“It’s going to take everything,” Rice said. “Plenty of sacrifices. We have to stay level-headed. We can’t get big-headed. Just keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
That includes weekend workouts.
“Sundays, we go to the beach. We do drills in the sand,” Rice said.
Down time is a chance to go hunting for some Seariders. Rice stays closer to the sea.
“These are my friends. The bond that we have even outside of baseball, we go go to the beach. I don’t go hunting, but we go fishing in Makaha. I’m not the best fisherman,” he said. “The best fisherman is Sam Quiel. The fishes like him. We dunk and the fishes always pull his line. I just like to hang out.”
Go back two years and Waianae trailed Radford by eight runs in an elimination game with a state berth at stake.
“We came back and made the state tournament,” Rice recalled. “Now we have more seniors than other years, eight of the nine starting. I think everybody is used to the pressure and expectations. We went through plenty of stuff together. We lost together. We won together. When you’re that close as a team, you do better.”
The future is very close. Rice will enroll at Tabor Community College in Kansas.
“Their coach saw me on FieldLevel and they reached out to me,” he said. “He said I have a good chance to start.”
Tabor would be the first chapter of his baseball life after high school if all goes according to plan.
“I feel like I just want it. Not everybody wants college that bad. I think I can go pretty far. I wouldn’t say anything crazy, but I could go D-I. I’m going to be thinking all about baseball when I’m up there. I’m going to miss my family, but that’s not going to stop me.”
The legacy is growing for Rice as a steely competitor and humble baseball brother.
“I met Chase when we were around 6. We practically grew up together,” Seariders teammate Kyson Rosa said. “We’ve always hung out together. He’s a good friend because when somebody is down, he always picks them up. He influences people to do better. He will also go out of his way just to include people, like picking them up when they have no ride.”
Chaseten Rice
Waianae baseball • Senior
Top 3 movies/shows
1. “Snowfall”
2. “Prison Break”
3. “Outer Banks”
“I’ve watched ‘Snowfall’ three times. I just put it on when I’m playing video games. It’s in the background.
Top 3 video games
1. MLB The Show 25
2. Arc of Survival
3. Grand Theft Auto
Top 3 foods/drinks
1. Korean chicken (Zippy’s)
2. Saimin (Shiro’s Saimin Haven)
3. Quesadilla (Taco Bell)
Top 3 homemade food
1. Mom and dad’s crab legs. “They make it during the holidays, maybe three times a year.”
2. Mom’s beef stew
3. Dad’s steak
4. Mom and dad’s shrimp.
Top 3 music artists
1. Bitty McLean — “Games”
2. Small Axe — “Love Attack”
3. Fiji — “Tequila Sunrise”
Favorite athlete/team: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
“He throws gas, like 100-plus mph. We have the same arm angle, kind of sidearm.”
Funniest teammate: Rico Gazelle
“He just says the most wild stuff. Unpredictable. We’re at the beach or at practice, he’s just funny.”
Smartest teammate: Cayzen Rice
“He has a 4.0 and everybody on the team, we’re not 4.0. At home, he’s always studying and stuff.”
GPA: 2.7
Favorite teacher: Mr. Frank Marcantonio (AVID/college prep)
“He always helped me. He’s a cool teacher. Any time I need something for college and scholarships, he helps me right away.”
Favorite class: Hawaiian history
“I took it in 10th grade. I’m Hawaiian, so it’s my history.”
Favorite motto/scripture: “It is what it is.” — Max Holloway.
“His kid, Rush, I see them at breakfast or running around sometimes.”
Hidden talent: “I’m good at video games. I have no hidden talent.”
New life skill: “Making speaker boxes with my dad.”
Bucket list: “Playing for a D-I college.”
Time machine: When and where would you travel?
“I would go back to when my granny (Dorothy Cardis) was still here and spend one last day with her. She’s been gone seven, eight years. She was always caring. Every morning she would wake us up, make us breakfast. She did everything for us.”
Youth sports: Razorbackz baseball
If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?
“Focus more on school. That really does catch up to you later on in high school.”
Shoutouts
“Thank you to my mom and dad for always believing in me and being my No. 1 supporters.”
“(Razorbackz head coach, Waianae assistant) Kipi Rosa for teaching me the game and always having my back. All those long, hard practices that got me to where I am today.
“Thank you Coach Ben McQuown for pushing us hard to be the best we can be. Thank you for putting up with us.
“Thank you to Coach Chad Bailey for being the best pitching coach.”
