The eyes of the Tigers were on Jake Hymel.

For most of his high school years, it appeared Hymel was destined to play baseball for Louisiana State University, where his father was the Tigers’ catcher and the most outstanding player in the 1991 College World Series. But an elbow injury re-routed those plans and, after two seasons at a junior college — one to rehab, the other to dazzle — the promising right-handed pitcher is now with the University of Hawaii baseball team.

“He’s a good one,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said he when he announced the 12 newcomers to the ’Bows.

Hymel reunites with left fielder Scotty Scott — they were teammates at Cypress Ranch High in Houston — and joins a rotation that lost two of its top relievers to professional baseball. In six junior-college games this past season, Hymel did not allow an earned run and averaged 15.43 strikeouts per nine innings.

“I had an amazing pitching coach who helped me grow as a pitcher,” Hymel said. “He made me realize it’s not how hard you throw, but how you pitch and how you pitch to different people, hitting your spots, really showing location.”

Hymel first learned the game from his father, Gary Hymel. Their training “definitely taught me a ton about baseball,” Hymel said. “It made me love the game. I used to always be a catcher as a kid. When I started getting older, I never really got the physique as a catcher. It more came into looking like a pitcher.”

The elder Hymel remained influential, providing the catcher’s view of pitching, “He definitely helped me a lot with the smarts behind pitching and knowing how to pitch to people,” said Hymel, who is now 6 feet 3 and 180 pounds.

Hymel, whose surname is pronounced “E-mel,” drew interest from several schools. But during his senior year, he began experiencing discomfort in his pitching elbow. “I think I wasn’t stretching enough in my elbow,” Hymel said. “Pitching wise, I never used to lift weights back in high school. It probably took a toll on my arm, I think.”

Hymel underwent surgery in Dallas. Facing a rehabilitation program, Hymel opted to accept an invitation to attend San Jacinto College, a Houston-based school that fielded one of the top baseball programs in junior college. “I wanted to stay close to home, and that seemed to be the best fit for me,” Hymel said.

Hymel redshirted in 2019. After nearly 10 months of rehab and strength training, Hymel was declared physically fit. His fastball’s velocity topped at 93 mph — up from the high 80s in high school — and he hopes to regularly touch the mid-90s this coming season.

“The rehab definitely made me stronger,” said Hymel, whose repertoire includes a two- and four-seam fastball, slider, curve and change-up.

Hymel said there were several factors that led him to Manoa.

“I love the coaches here,” Hymel said. “I felt it was a great fit for me. They’re really nice, Everyone on the team seems pretty cool. I love the culture around (the program). I feel it was a big change (to come to Hawaii), and that’s what I really liked. … I definitely saw that Scotty (Scott) was absolutely in love with it and definitely loved played playing baseball here. I couldn’t see how I could pass it up.”

Hymel already has overcome adversity. The past Saturday, he was awakened to stomach pain. He went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with appendicitis. “It was a crazy thing,” Hymel said. “I had to get my appendix removed.”

Trapasso was there to pick up Hymel from the hospital. “Things happen,” Hymel said. “I wasn’t expecting (the appendicitis). I definitely feel a lot better.”