As Holland Hall junior center fielder Kaysen Fredieu jogs out to his spot in the outfield, he is thinking about far more than the next fly ball. He is thinking about his responsibility to his teammates, to his family and to his faith.
Fredieu, an 11th grader whose favorite subject is math, said his biggest inspiration is his older brother, who modeled what it means to be an African American student-athlete grounded in God. “He’s shown me in many ways why it’s important to always do your best even when the people around you aren’t,” Fredieu said. “He told me don’t work hard to impress someone but work hard to better yourself.”
That mindset shows up daily for Holland Hall’s center fielder, who embraces a significant leadership role on a youthful roster. Fredieu said he strives to be patient with underclassmen learning the program’s standards while remaining vocal and encouraging. “As a junior on my baseball team I have a big role for leadership that I take very seriously,” he said.
In center field, Fredieu is responsible for aligning the outfield based on each hitter, a challenge he welcomes. When a ball drops because of a misread, he takes it personally and owns the mistake. “It’s on me to align my outfielders in the right spots so I give the team the best chance to catch every ball hit to the outfield,” he said.
Offensively, Fredieu loves nothing more than a fastball over the middle of the plate. With what he describes as great bat speed, he aims to drive the ball back through the middle. In his free time, he fine-tunes his skills in all his sports so he can be the best version of himself for the team.
Above all, Fredieu said the Dutch baseball program feels like family. “We go to war together, we also hold each other accountable for mistakes, but we don’t belittle each other when a mistake is made,” he said.
