National college notes: April 12

 



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Cal Quantrill (28) did not pitch

Read about the performance of Colby Woodmansee here.
Read about the performance of Logan Shore here.
Read about the performance and watch video of Dakota Hudson here.
Read about the performance and watch video of Connor Jones here.



Austin Hays, of, Jacksonville

Every year there always seem to be a few prospects from the smaller, “mid-major” schools that take the college baseball world by storm. In 2015 it was players like Donnie Dewees (North Florida) and Jeff Degano (Indiana State), to name but a few that put up crooked numbers and displayed the tools and skills that professional organizations find enticing.

This season players like Kyle Lewis (Mercer), Heath Quinn (Samford), Jake Rogers (Tulane) and Sean Murphy (Wright State) have positioned themselves to be selected early—and perhaps in the Top 10 in the case of Lewis—this June.

While he may not be selected in quite the same range as the aforementioned players, Jacksonville University outfielder Austin Hays has garnered some buzz this spring. Hays attended Seminole State College of Florida in 2014, where he hit .382/.425/.576 at the junior college ranks. And while he had a stellar season (.271/.351/.385) last spring in his first season for JU, he truly exploded onto the national scene in the summer when he hit .301 and added two homers and 14 stolen bases for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the prestigious Cape Cod League.




Hays carried his hot-hitting ways over to 2016, as he entered the weekend with personal bests in batting average (.379), and home runs (8). His performance last summer and outstanding start to the 2016 campaign has opened some eyes.

This past weekend, Hays was able to add to that tally as he went a combined 6-for-12 in leading the Dolphins to a series-victory against conference and intra-city rival North Florida.  Listed at 6-foot-1, 195-pounds, Hays has a well-proportioned, athletic frame with broad shoulders, but it is evident that there is still room for him to comfortably continue filling out and add further muscle and strength. It’s also evident that he’s a solid athlete and he has some quick-twitch explosion and a general fluidity and looseness to his movements.

While I wasn’t able to see the Sunday contest, in which Hays had three hits, including two homers—to give him 10 on the season—his performance on Saturday provided a glimpse of the overall tool-set and some perspective on why he could be in the discussion for the top five rounds of the draft.

Aside from the projectable frame and solid athleticism that Hays brings, he also has an above average throwing arm. The Dolphins did not take pre-game infield/outfield, but during the contest Hays did well to charge in on a base hit and unload a hard, low strike towards home plate that was eventually cut off and used to nab the trail runner. If the throw was allowed to travel through, there would have been a close play at the plate, as the throw was online and featured easy carry and velocity out of Hays’ hand.

Additionally, Hays is a solid runner, both in terms of footspeed and instincts. He swiped two bases on Saturday, both the result of getting good leads and quick jumps off of the pitcher. He also showed good instincts on quickly taking an extra base on a ball that bounced in the dirt later in the contest.

However, as it is with any position player prospect, plenty of focus revolves around the question: how much will he be able to hit at the next level? Obviously, the numbers over the past calendar year support the idea that he’ll be able to compete well at the next level. The firsthand observation also showed that there are things to like and work with. Hays did strike out once in Saturday’s game and he had some small timing/rhythm issues against a steady diet of off-speed pitches in his second at-bat, but all five of his plate appearances were competitive at-bats. He hit the ball hard in four of them, three of which went for base hits. 

Although he was out in front slightly at times, Hays has solid balance and he was able to make necessary adjustments against the slower breaking stuff that he saw. His hands are very quiet throughout his setup and load, and he’s able to generate solid bat speed thanks to his natural strength in his forearms and quick wrists. Additionally, his path to the ball is good, and he consistently showed the ability to extend through contact. While the power wasn’t on display on Saturday, Hays showed off a disciplined, mature approach by using the middle of the field and taking what the pitchers gave to him. 

He may not profile as a huge power threat at the next level, but he obviously has the strength and feel for the barrel to capitalize on mistakes and put them out to the biggest part of the ballpark, as he did during Sunday’s contest.  Hays’ well-rounded skill-set and outstanding production to date make him an interesting prospect to monitor and continued strong performances could pay dividends for both Hays and the Dolphins, who are now 2-1 in Atlantic Sun play.

National Notes

• Jake Mangum is enjoying an incredible freshman season for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and was recently named the SEC Freshman of the Week after his performance against the previously top-ranked Gators. After going 4-for-4 in their midweek contest against UT Martin, Mangum went 3-for-5 in each of the first two games against Florida and is currently hitting .437 atop MSU’s lineup, which leads the SEC, while playing center field.

• Miami supplanted Florida as the top-ranked team in the nation, and while they only won two games last week as poor weather cancelled their first two games at Notre Dame, they made the most of their time on the field. They shut out Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday of last week, 4-0, getting seven strong innings from Jesse Lepore, before taking Sunday’s game against the Irish, 10-2. Michael Mediavilla continues to throw the ball well for the Hurricanes while few, if any players, are commanding the strike zone as well as Zack Collins, who went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and five driven in on Sunday, which included his seventh home run of the year (a three-run shot) and a two-run double. Collins is now hitting .424 on the year, but even more impressive are the 36 walks he has drawn in 29 games. With improved defense behind the plate and his powerful lefthanded stroke, Collins continues to creep up draft boards with a few comparisons being made to former Indiana star backstop Kyle Schwarber.

• Florida looks to bounce back after losing their series at home to Mississippi State as they travel to Fayetteville for a three-game set against Arkansas that begins on Thursday. To keep the rotation intact, Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan intends to use A.J. Puk, who was removed from his last start (oblique) on April 3 after only one inning, to open the series while keeping Logan Shore and Alex Faedo in place as the team’s Friday and Saturday starters. Puk came out firing in that last appearance, throwing his fastball in the mid- to upper-90s with his usual nasty breaking ball.

• Although the wheels fell off in the third inning, Louisville’s Kyle Funkhouser looked to be back to his previous form early in his game on Sunday against Florida State. He threw his fastball in the 93-95 mph range with command and his potential plus slider. Funkhouser’s stuff has looked better the last two weeks when he was pushed back to the team’s Sunday starter, and will look to take another step forward this weekend against Clemson.