PHOENIX -- Caleb Lomavita is no stranger to hopping on a plane and traveling to Arizona to take care of business. As a catcher for the Cal Golden Bears, Lomavita twice traveled to Spring Training parks across the Valley as part of the MLB Desert Invitational, an opening weekend kickoff to the college baseball season.

His time in the Grand Canyon State delivered both his first college homer (2022) and arguably his most eye-popping one back on Feb. 18, a 452-foot wallop that came off the bat at 113.9 mph.

But when the Honolulu, Hawaii, native arrived at Chase Field for the Draft Combine last month, it was to meet with big league clubs ahead of the 2024 Draft and show them that the ebullient and fiery on-field competitor was an endearing and captivating one off it.

“Not a lot of people have that switch -- they don't know when to turn on, turn off,” Lomavita said. “And I think that my switch being Caleb off the field, being a giving, loving, caring guy is an absolutely great characteristic to have. But when you get on the field, it's strictly business.”

There was no shortage of storylines on display at the Draft Combine -- impressive exit velocities, eye-popping spin rates, mesmerizing 60-yard dash times and more. But there were also players from as far and wide as Alaska, North Dakota and Hawaii, a reminder that if you’ve got game, scouts -- and in turn, big league clubs -- will find you.

Just 48 players to appear in AL/NL history have been born in Hawaii. But 25 of those have been since the turn of the 21st century, while four players selected in last year’s MLB Draft hail from the island.

Lomavita’s high school program -- the St. Louis School in Honolulu -- produced eight of those big leaguers, including Benny Agbayani, Jordan Yamamoto and Brandon League. But it wasn’t until his body developed and he posted back-to-back seasons with a .979 and .981 OPS at Cal did MLB’s No. 33 Draft prospect begin to garner legitimate first-round buzz.

“It just goes to show that everybody that I was competing against in high school can have the same shot that I have right now,” Lomavita said. “There's another Hawaiian guy [at the Draft Combine], Kodey Shojinaga. I got to play against him in high school, and to see him here is beautiful. And to see some of the younger guys … probably gonna come out here next year, it's wonderful to see just because of the passion I've seen from them on the field.”

“Me and Caleb, we're really close,” said Shojinaga, who has spent the past two seasons playing for the University of Kansas. “We always played against each other, played with each other -- he’s awesome.

“It’s an honor, always, to represent the state. To represent the 808 [the Hawaiian Islands’ area code], it’s awesome. It’s something I always want to do and I hold it really high to my name and hold it really close to my chest because I love doing it.”

Lomavita expressed a similar sentiment. Long gone are the days where Hawaiian players looked to the big leagues and didn’t see much representation. Now, there’s Shane Victorino, Kolten Wong, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Kurt Suzuki and others to serve as a blueprint for how to go from dominating on the island to succeeding on the mainland.

“My favorite thing about baseball is that you can succeed as a small guy, big guy,” Lomavita said. “It's a humbling sport and it's pretty fair for everyone. Everyone has an equal opportunity and it's all about how hard you work and how much you want it.”

The first thing you notice about Lomavita is his propensity to smile. Before getting into nuance about his skill set or tool grades, it just looks like he’s having a blast when he’s on the diamond. “I'm a little kid when I get back on the field,” he said in February, and it shows, all while mixing it with the intensity required to be the game’s field general from behind the dish.

Every Draft class is full of surefire, can’t-miss names near the top who have had talent evaluators, travel ball coaches and autograph seekers enamored from a young age. But that was never Lomavita. Beyond the dynamic of hailing from a place that’s both difficult and expensive to invest in from a prep scouting perspective, Lomavita arrived at Cal with three gloves -- one for the infield, one for the outfield and one to catch, a man away from home without a defensive one.

So the machinations of glitz, glamor and fame that come with being a pro? That was never really on Lomavita’s radar.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that,” Lomavita said when asked about his pro aspirations. “It’s kind of a given -- you’re putting in the work everyday; it’s not really a want, it’s a choice that you make by putting in countless hours. I don’t really need to tell anyone that I want to be a professional, they can watch me on the field and see how I go about my work and they can tell me whether or not I have a shot.”

He more than has a shot. Lomavita’s name has often been bandied about as potentially the first catcher off the board in the 2024 Draft. That’s a credit to his development behind the plate under the tutelage of former big leaguer and current Cal head coach Mike Neu, who upon bestowed his backstop the privilege of calling games on occasion this season.

Decisionmakers in big league organizations often impart how important the nuances a catcher provides throughout the game are; in a sense, they’re an extension of the dugout on the field. Lomavita got to meet with clubs during the Combine, expressing how he loves having developed into being the “unsung hero” behind the success of his pitchers.

Then, he smiles and remembers the journey from Honolulu to Phoenix to wherever comes next.

“I think younger Caleb is enjoying childhood, I wouldn’t want to ruin that by saying, ‘Hey, this might be your job one day,’” Lomavita said. “I would just say, ‘Enjoy now. Keep being a kid, don’t ever grow up and make as many friends on the field as possible because they’re there for you long-term.’

“I mean, when somebody told me that I have a shot to make money while I'm doing something I love, it's like a dream come true. It's like Disneyland.”