The University of Hawaii baseball team opened fall training with a heated challenge.

The first practice was at night “because it’s been so hot,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said.

Other than that, Trapasso enthusiastically welcomed a team that is a mix of youth (16 newcomers) and experience (six of the top eight hitters return).

“It’s an interesting dynamic,” Trapasso said.

Of the first-year Warriors, 11 are freshmen.

“This fall will be good to get the new guys indoctrinated to how we do things,” Trapasso said. “We definitely need the fall to get the new guys a good evaluation. And with 11 freshmen, getting those guys in the weight room is a big factor this fall. While there’s talent and athletic ability, there’s not a lot of strength. You always have that with freshmen.”

The ’Bows’ top hitter, shortstop Maaki Yamazaki (.325), was not selected in June’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and is back to anchor the infield. Also returning are second baseman Dustin Demeter (.279) and third baseman Ethan Lopez (.278, six homers).

Right-hander Jackson Rees signed a free-agent contract with the Toronto Blue Jays and Neil Uskali completed his UH eligibility.

But Dominic DeMiero, Cade Smith, Jeremy Yelland and Logan Pouelsen return to the rotation. They combined for 21 starts the past season.

DeMiero was held out the near the end of the 2018 season because of what essentially was arm fatigue.

He was restricted from throwing early in the summer. In August, DeMiero resumed throwing with a long-toss program. Trapasso said DeMiero is expected to pitch to batters by the end of fall training.

Dylan Thomas, who was named the top relief pitcher of the Cape Cod summer league, also was granted a break from pitching in August. Thomas struck out 43 in 272⁄3 innings in the Cape Cod league. The plan is for Thomas to make the move to starter for the 2019 season.

“We’ll use the fall to work on a few things,” Trapasso said of Thomas, who is seeking complementary out pitches to his slider.

Trapasso said the ’Bows might test some of the newcomers at different positions this fall. “Outside of that, there’s a lot of evaluating and working on things,” Trapasso said.

Fall camp runs for five weeks, with practices conducted four times each week.