Like the rest of you, I’m really enjoying this baseball season. I think about what we might lose after this year and get a little bummed, but then I think how most of the guys producing now kind of came out of nowhere. I believe our staff is really good or even great at evaluating and/or developing talent. I’m thinking now we’ll just plug holes next year with more great evals and development.

Check out Perfect Game’s ranking of the guys leading this year’s team:

Nick Biddison (2018) #500 in the nation, #14 in VA

Gavin Cross (2019) #500 in the nation, #37 in TN… now the #10 draft prospect for the ’22 draft according to mlb.com

Tanner Schobel (2020) #500 in the nation, #33 in VA… now the #143 draft prospect for the ’22 draft according to prospectslive.com

Jack Hurley (2020) #500 in the nation, #37 in PA… was leading the country in batting average at one point

Cade Hunter (2019) #500 in the nation, #23 in NJ… now the #96 draft prospect for the ’22 draft according to prospectslive.com

Carson DeMartini (2021) #500 in the nation, #14 in VA… called the best #9 hitter in the country during a recent telecast, has shown great power and hits for average

Griffin Green (2020) #500 in the nation, #28 in MA… has been excellent in the Friday starter role

Drue Hackenberg (2021) #500 in the nation, #13 in VA… has been excellent in the Saturday starter role, has to be up for some national awards

I’m pretty sure the #500 ranking just means you weren’t in the top 500. Let’s look at some of the previous year’s top guys that got drafted:

Carson Taylor (2018) #500 in the nation, #133 in GA… went to the Dodgers in Round 4 of the 2020 MLB Draft

Chris Gerard (2018) #500, #20 in NJ… went to the Cardinals in Round 12 of the 2021 MLB Draft

Anthony Simonelli (2017) #388, #6 in VA… went to the Royals in Round 16 of the 2021 MLB Draft

Ian Seymour (2017) #500, #13 in MA… went to the Rays in Round 2 of the 2020 MLB Draft

Those were just some of the top standouts. Lots of other guys have produced and outperformed their high school ranking.

The staff has also done a very nice job bringing in transfers. Kerry Carpenter (St. John's River State College), Jack Dellinger (Chipola College), T.J. Rumfield (Texas Tech), and Shane Connolly (The Citadel) were all brought in via transfer, produced greatly, and were drafted.

Looking forward to more exciting Hammerin’ Hokie baseball in the future.