The University of Hawaii baseball team strengthened its pitching staff with the addition of a hard-throwing transfer from the University of Washington.

Boston Warkentin, whose fastball touches 94 mph after his full recovery from an elbow injury, said on Wednesday he accepted an offer from the Rainbow Warriors and will join UH in August.

“Coach (Keith) Zuniga and the whole staff there have been great,” Warkentin said of UH’s pitching coach. “I love the development over there. And I like the fan base out there. The fan base has been crazy. I’m so excited to be able to come over to the island.”

Warkentin, who grew up 30 minutes outside of Vancouver, was one of Canada’s top pitching prospects as a Foothills Composite High School student-athlete. In 2021, he was a member of Canada’s Junior National team.

He made four relief appearances for Washington as a freshman in 2023. The next spring, he suffered the injury to his right (throwing) elbow that required so-called Tommy John surgery in March 2024.

“The first three months (of rehabilitation) were definitely the hardest,” said Warkentin, who is 6 feet 2 and 195 pounds. “I wasn’t able to do much. I let the elbow recover. It was definitely hard not to get out there and compete.”

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Last October, he began the throwing program.

”It started off slow,” he said. “I was learning to trust my arm again.”

Warkentin did not pitch during the 2025 season. But he said after eight months of throwing, his elbow has fully healed.

Before the injury, Warkentin’s fastball averaged between 89 and 91 mph, topping at 92 mph. In recent bullpen sessions, his velocity is up to 91-94 mph.

“I think going through this whole thing, I’ve been able to get back to where I was, if not better,” Warkentin said. “It’s definitely a bunch of patience. It’s definitely been a journey.”

With the Huskies’ blessing last month, Warkentin decided to enter the transfer portal.

“It made sense,” Warkentin said. “We decided it was best for both of us to kind of get a fresh start.”

Warkentin said he has heard different versions of the origin of his unique first name.

“The one my mom tells me, anyway, is she was messing with names,” Warkentin said. “Before she got pregnant with me and my brother — I have a twin brother — she was training for the Boston Marathon. She liked that name.”

No news also was good news for the ’Bows. With the closing of the transfer portal for baseball, pitchers Isaiah Magdaleno, Sebastian Gonzalez and Freddy Rodriguez remain on the ’Bows’ roster.