COULEE CITY — Like many student-athletes who hail from small towns, Almira/Coulee-Hartline sophomore Caden Correia spends his school year donning the Warrior uniform in three different sports. However, there’s one sport that stands out to him — baseball.

“Starting young, I just found love for the game right off the bat,” Correia said. “There’s just something about being out there with your best friends.”

Correia comes from a baseball family — his father, ACH baseball assistant coach Mike Correia, played college baseball at Big Bend and Central Washington while his older brother Cooper Correia, a 2022 ACH graduate, went on to play baseball at Big Bend. As a team manager for the Warriors in 2018 and 2019, Correia got a first-hand look at the Warrior teams that won back-to-back state championships in those seasons, defeating Colton 8-4 in the 2018 championship game and Odessa 10-0 in the 2019 title game.

“To see cool things like that happen, playing as an eighth grader, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Correia said. 

After beginning the baseball season during his eighth grade year splitting time between the high school and middle school teams, it didn’t take long for Correia to be pulled up to the varsity squad.

“We were limiting his time a bit (at the beginning of the year) — maybe he would play some middle school games. He would catch one of the games, and then his brother would catch the other one,” ACH baseball head coach Hunter Lee said. “About halfway through the season, we pretty quickly realized he had no business playing middle school baseball.

The Warriors tied for third at the 2022 1B State Baseball Tournament and would graduate 11 seniors from that team’s roster just a few weeks later. Before entering his freshman baseball season, Correia knew what he had to.

“Just be a more vocal part of your team,” Correia said. “It just helped me grow a base.” 

As a three-year starter for the Warriors this past spring and leading off on offense, Correia paced the team in batting average (.545), on-base percentage (.693), hits (36) and runs scored (51), finishing two RBI shy behind junior Grayson Beal (36) for the team-high.

“You just use the old saying — see the ball, hit the ball,” Correia said. “There’s different things; I had a lot of practice with Grayson Beal and John (Pierce), all these guys on our team that made the player I was. They really gave me the confidence, my coaches gave me the confidence. It was a lot of fun.”

“He has the highest batting average in the three years that I’ve been the head coach,” Lee said.

On the mound, Correia went 10-1 with 86 strikeouts, 29 hits surrendered, 20 earned runs and 25 walks throughout the 2024 season.

“He had 10 wins this year too, which is pretty crazy to see in high school baseball with how limited we get to play in the northwest,” Lee said. “He won almost half of our games.”

The sophomore credited his success on the mound to a moment during his eighth-grade season. During a doubleheader against Odessa, he gave up a two-run home run to the Tigers in a game the Warriors eventually fell 7-5. From that point on, he knew it was time to “put some work in,” and has spent the past two seasons building up his confidence on the mound.

“It kind of just built a fire underneath me,” he said.

With two more baseball seasons to play until he graduates, Lee said he was looking forward to seeing what the Warrior’s top pitching duo of Correia and freshman Max Grindy can accomplish in the future. Grindy missed the 2024 season with an injury.

“We’re going to be tough to beat if those two are on,” Lee said. “DeSales has a pretty good one-two punch, they just won the state championship. Their two pitchers are awesome, but I would definitely put Caden and Max up there with the best two pitchers in the state at our level.”

When he turned out for football during his freshman year, Correia served as the team’s backup quarterback until late in the year — starter Carter Pitts was needed to play at running back for certain plays, and head coach Brandon Walsh asked Correia if he was able to fill in.

“‘Are you confident with that?’” Correia recalled Walsh asking. “And I was like, ‘Oh, we’ll see.’”

Correia admitted there were some nerves with stepping in as the team’s quarterback, even if it was in a shared atmosphere with Pitts. However, with more experience, those nerves began to wash away.

“All these guys are 100 pounds heavier than you, they’re a lot stronger than me,” he said. “It was just kind of relaxing — I have a great coach in Coach Walsh and great guys around me that built up my confidence. Confidence is a huge thing in all sports, and it made a base for me to be able to be like a quarterback and be confident back there in the pocket.”

Pitts transitioned to full-time running back for the Warriors in 2023, leaving the door open for Correia to take over as starting quarterback. Correia threw for just under 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns this spring, commanding the Warriors’ run-heavy offense.

“With the guys around me that make plays all the time, it’s really easy to play quarterback when everyone else (are) studs,” Correia said. 

Correia, who said his favorite aspect of football is the strategy of the game, added an additional 820 yards and 11 scores on 178 carries as a runner.

“I’ve never been the runner, I’ve kind of been (of the mindset of) let’s just see how far I can throw the ball,” Correia said. “Being in there and handing it off to Carter most of the time, and then pulling it to for extra yards is nice, especially when Carter — who has been our leading rusher for a few years now — everyone’s focused on him. When I take it out, it’s nice because there’s a lot of green.”

During the winter Correia starts at guard for the Warrior basketball team, taking the court with many of the same teammates that he suits up for football and baseball with. That built-in team chemistry from playing three sports together goes a long way, he said.

“It’s definitely nice knowing that you have these guys around you that are going through it with you,” Correia said. “They’re definitely brothers to me right now.”

The Warriors missed the 1B State Basketball Tournament by one game last season, though Correia is excited to see what the team can do in 2024-25.

“Just seeing these new parts getting added to our team with what we had last year, I’m feeling pretty good about this year,” Correia said. 

Up next for Correia? The 2024 Warrior football season.

“I’m really confident with what our team has,” he said. “I know that Coach Walsh is going to make us better and be able to grow in many different ways.”

This story is part of a series highlighting rising junior student-athletes from across the Columbia Basin. Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s Caden Correia (2) rushes past the Concrete defense during a state football playoff game on Nov. 11 in Moses Lake. Correia took over as the Warrior quarterback last fall.
  

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s Caden Correia (15) dribbles the ball up the floor during a basketball game against Line-Ritzville/Sprague on Dec. 2.