Former Skyline standout tabs eight-RBI day for Oklahoma Baptist University

Hitting out of the No. 3 spot in the Bison batting order, Bartolome went 4 for 5 with two home runs, including a sixth-inning grand slam, and eight RBIs. The RBI mark equals the modern program record since OBU was promoted to the Division II ranks in 2016.

“When I was at the field, I didn’t really think about what I did, until my friends and family started texting me,” Bartolome said.

Bartolome’s phone started blowing up during the game. Of course, he didn’t realize it until he adjourned to the postgame locker room. He had three texts waiting for him from his mother Melissa — who followed the game from their family home in Haleiwa, Hawaii — who was the first person to reach out to him.

The eight-RBI day was a personal best for Bartolome, a Hawaii native, whose previous best was five RBIs against Northwestern in 2020, when multi-RBI games were a common occurrence for Bartolome. He had two or more RBIs in 13 of OBU’s 22 games last year and looked to be on his way to a special season until the pandemic upended the season.

“The start he got off to last year was just out of this world,” OBU associate head coach Cody Painter said. “You just couldn’t get him out.”

Despite totaling just 92 at-bats in 2020, Bartolome logged a .435 batting average with eight home runs and 39 RBIs. This season, he has picked up right where he left off. Hitting safely through his first seven games, the senior is in the midst of a 22-game hitting streak; he batted safely through the last 15 games of 2020. He is currently hitting .542 (13 for 24).

“Kai can cover the zone,” Painter said. “… Even the grand slam he hit … the ball was [off the plate inside] and he got around on it.”

Bartolome connected with the inside fastball even though he was crowding the plate. Earlier in the at-bat he saw two off-speed pitches down and away and moved up on the plate in anticipation of another one. But when he got the inside fastball low in the zone, he didn’t miss it.

“I got closer to the plate because I had a feeling he was going to go away again, then he came inside and I was able to pull my hands in and connect with it,” Bartolome said.

Hard work in the offseason paid off for Bartolome, who retreated to his home in Haleiwa after the season was canceled last March. After quarantining for 14 days, he got back to the job of hitting baseballs.

He and his cousin set up a batting cage in his uncle’s yard, and in April he put out the word on social media. He received a response for another former California Community College player, pitcher Royce Tachiro, who pitched at College of the Siskiyous, and by April, Bartolome was taking live batting practice off a quality college pitcher several times a month.

“I think I was more prepared this season,” Bartolome said. “I had that hunger to still compete at the same level as I did last year. I couldn’t wait to play again.”

OBU has been quite a pipeline for local community college baseball transfers. The Bison roster has featured players from Skyline and College of San Mateo in recent years, including 2013 NAIA Player of the Year Matt Page (Serra, Skyline) and current Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Julian Merryweather (Serra, Skyline).

Bartolome debuted on the Shawnee, Oklahoma campus in 2019, along with fellow transfer Ramon Enriquez (Capuchino, Skyline). The two currently compose the heart of the Bison batting order, hitting in the No. 3-4 spots, respectively.

But Bartolome’s Division II career didn’t start all to auspiciously. He opened his junior year by going hitless in his first 17 at-bats. Through his first nine games, his batting average on the interstate at .094 (3 for 32), until he finally broke out with a three-hit performance. Multi-hit games became the norm for the right-handed hitting third baseman from then on.

“Kaimana came in as a junior in 2019 and got off to a slow start … and then he just blew up, and was a huge presence for a regional team,” Painter said. “… He has just continued to get better.”