Hoopii-Tuionetoa takes another huge step with solid play, title in Arizona Fall League | News, Sport

Anthony “Bubba” Hoopii-Tuionetoa, a graduate of Baldwin High School, of the Surprise Saguaros pitches during the Arizona Fall League All-Star Game in Mesa, Ariz., on Nov. 5. MLB Photos via Getty Images / Norm Hall photo

He goes by “Bubba” to all who know him, but Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa is growing up fast in the Texas Rangers organization.

A couple weeks after the parent club won its first World Series crown, the 2018 Baldwin High School graduate was a big part out of the bullpen in helping the Surprise Saguaros capture the Arizona Fall League title.

The first championship ring in his professional career is a clear indicator that the 17-year-old who led the Bears to the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I state crown in 2018 has matured into a top prospect in his organization as a 23-year-old.

“It was awesome,” Hoopii-Tuionetoa said via phone from Arizona on Thursday.

It was anything but a simple road for Hoopii-Tuionetoa in 2023.

“I think the worst part about it was not being able to play the first half, kind of going through injury and dealing with that kind of stuff, having a hard time trying to bounce back,” he said. “But after I got fully healthy and figured things out I kind of got punched in the mouth when I first got back in low (Class) A when rehab was over.

“I was, like, ‘Man, this sucks’ as I tried to get my feet under me and then ended up kind of finding a groove and then got the promotion to High (Class) A Hickory and that’s where I kind of settled down.”

His season started slowly as he recovered from an arm injury that delayed the beginning his 2023 campaign until he was activated by the rookie-level Rangers in the Arizona Complex League on June 5.

After going 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in four games there, he moved to the Down East Wood Ducks in the Class A Carolina League. He went 1-1 with a 7.50 ERA in six games there, but showed enough to be moved up to the High Class A Hickory Crawdads on Aug. 4.

After recording a 1.54 ERA in nine appearances there — he was 0-0 and allowed just two runs in 11 2/3 innings — he was assigned to the AFL’s Saguaros on Sept. 22.

Shane Dudoit is the Texas Rangers scout who helped sign Hoopii-Tuionetoa when he was selected in the 30th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball amateur draft.

“Definitely brother, I think his mind is in the right place,” said Dudoit, the Maui County Deputy Parks and Recreation Director who will receive a World Series championship ring for the Rangers’ 2023 world championship. “I think he’s grown and he’s matured. You know, that’s what the process of Major League Baseball is set up to do. It’s set up to get you ready to perform at around this age. This is where they expect you to start to develop and hopefully get into the bigs.”

Hoopii-Tuionetoa didn’t allow an earned run in 9 2/3 innings in the AFL, striking out 10 and walking three. The league is for top prospects and each team there is made up of players from several different organizations.

After that performance, he was named to the AFL Rising Stars team, the All-Star team for the league.

“When I got invited to the Arizona Fall League — that was probably one of the biggest things for me that helped me a lot,” Hoopii-Tuionetoa said. “Just to be there, to see the players that come in and out of there in the Arizona Fall League, some really, really big names, I mean you see like Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Ronald Acuna Jr., you have Vlad Guerrero, like all those guys that played in the fall league.

“So, to be able to be invited to that was awesome. It was a great experience, even better the fact that we won the championship. It was unreal because it’s such a stacked league. All the teams are really good and they can hit the ball, I will tell you that right now.”

Hoopii-Tuionetoa knows he has grown into the player he is now over time and through hard work, by himself and those invested in him.

“They always say it takes a village to raise a child sometimes and everybody behind me — my family, they support me through everything I do, you know, they never gave up on me and believe that I will be able to make it to where I want to be,” he said.

Hoopii-Tuionetoa was also quick to credit Dudoit, his head coach for the Bears’ state title team in 2018 who is now the head coach at Kamehameha Maui.

“Obviously, coach Shane, credit to him,” Hoopii-Tuionetoa said. “I don’t think people realize the things that he’s done for me to be where I’m at today. I mean, he’s the one who put me out there. A lot of people don’t realize that, but to me he gave me this opportunity to follow this career and chase this dream to potentially be a big leaguer. He and his family support me the same way my own family does.”

Dudoit took his wife Jovi and son Halii to watch Hoopii-Tuionetoa play for the Saguaros.

“We were up in Arizona a few weeks ago and we got to watch him pitch the first game of the Arizona Fall League — we took him out for dinner, got to talk story with him,” Dudoit said. “I mean everything about him, to me his mind is in a great place, his body is in a great place. He did fight a little bit of — maybe his elbow, there was some injury this year — but he’s going brother.

“Yessir, this is that step, playing in the fall league means you’re really close to getting to the big show.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

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