After making their best pitches, Aaron Davenport and Cade Halemanu are awaiting their draft notices.

The University of Hawaii baseball team’s top two starting pitchers are expected to be selected in the three-day Major League Baseball draft, which begins with today’s first round. The second through 10th rounds will be on Monday, with the remainder of the 20-round draft on Tuesday.

“Just hanging out and waiting,” said Davenport, a right-hander who averaged 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings and allowed 12 walks in his first 10 starts of 2020.

Since early June, Davenport’s volunteer adviser has fielded calls from every MLB team. Davenport received additional attention while pitching in the prestigious Cape Cod Summer League. “It was good,” Davenport said. “I was there my freshman year, too. The best college players are out there, so it was a great experience.”

Davenport’s out pitch is a high-spin-rate curveball that he can throw anytime in the count.

“They like my stuff, I guess,” Davenport said. “Everybody likes something different. We’ll see how it goes.”

Davenport recently completed his third UH season and second as the series-opening ace. After the season, he entered the NCAA’s transfer portal. He recently committed to Arkansas as a contingency option, although he is expected to be drafted or offered a free-agent contract.

“I absolutely loved my three years (in Hawaii),” Davenport said. “I couldn’t be more grateful for it. But I wanted to try something new and have a little backup plan.”

Halemanu, who has pitched three UH seasons, had impressed with a changeup that he developed at Pearl City High. “You don’t really have to use a changeup in high school,” Halemanu said. “It was just fastball, curveball. Once I got to UH, Trap (former UH coach Mike Trapasso) was like, ‘I love your changeup.’ No one said that ever before.”

As a freshman, Halemanu’s fastball was touching 88 mph. In 2020, the velocity reached the 90-91 range. Then against Cal State Fullerton this year, Halemanu hit 96 mph. With his size (6 feet 4, 215 pounds) and potential to reach 98 mph, scouts took notice.

“It was nice to see everything come together and see some results,” Halemanu said.

Halemanu is a perfectionist with a strong work ethic. He often cites James Paxton’s when-to-retire goal of striking out 27 in a game. Before every game, Halemanu often thinks, “here’s another opportunity to strike out 27. Usually after the first inning, that’s off the table.”

Halemanu was not heavily recruited as a high school senior. “Looking back at it, I would not change it for the world,” he said. “It helped me with my mind-set.”

He joined UH as a walk-on and still was not on scholarship at the end of the 2021 season. Through student fees, he essentially paid to watch himself pitch. “I let my mom take care of all the money stuff,” Halemanu said. “I just go out and play.”

If he is not drafted or offered a contract, Halemanu said, he will return to UH for another season. “That’s my thoughts,” he said.