Baseball

By: Ken Gurnick – @kengurnick

LOS ANGELES — With their two first-round picks in the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday, the Dodgers went all-in for power-hitting college infielders, selecting Tulane third baseman Kody Hoese No. 25 overall and North Carolina utility man Michael Busch, taken as a second baseman No. 31 overall.

“We liked that demographic, and it worked in our favor in this Draft,” said amateur scouting director Billy Gasparino. “We like college bats and always search for them first.”

• Draft Tracker: Complete pick-by-pick coverage

The Dodgers also drafted Jimmy Lewis, a right-handed Texas high school pitcher, 78th overall with a compensation pick for the free-agent departure of Yasmani Grandal.

Hoese, 21, is a right-handed hitter who was drafted by Kansas City in the 35th round last year. After two unspectacular years in college, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound slugger erupted this season, drawing comparisons to Josh Donaldson and becoming the first third baseman the Dodgers have ever taken with their first pick. He hit .391 with 23 homers and 61 RBIs in 58 games. He was scouted by Benny Latino.

“Kody is a guy we earmarked coming out of the fall that we really thought took a jump in both ability and performance. He’s an athletic 6-4, lean-bodied third baseman who we think is a plus defender,” said Gasparino, who saw Hoese play three games in two days.

“We thought the power was going to be there, and then he went out and almost hit .400 with over 20 home runs and really showed us that he was a dynamic hitter that can hit with power. His defense is plus.”

Here’s the MLB Pipeline scouting report on Hoese:

After going homerless as a freshman in 2017 and hitting just five homers as a sophomore, Hoese ranked fourth in NCAA Division I with 23 long balls during the 2019 regular season. Taken in the 35th round in 2018 by the Royals as a Draft-eligible sophomore, he began to realize his power potential by blasting seven homers with wood bats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League last summer. He tied a Tulane record with three homers in his fifth game of the 2019 season and has kept up the rampage, winning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors.

Tulane’s best offensive prospect since 2003 Indians first-rounder Michael Aubrey, Hoese is loaded with natural right-handed power. He’s always had a good swing and the ability to leverage the ball with his 6-foot-4 frame, and he has taken off since getting stronger. He drives the ball in the air from gap to gap with ease, maintaining a disciplined approach that has led to more walks than strikeouts in 2019.

Though he’s a below-average runner, Hoese moves well for his size and covers enough ground to remain at third base. His solid arm strength adds to his quality profile at the hot corner, a package that should land him in the top two rounds.

CHICAGO (May 23, 2019) — In its 34th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Michael Doolin of Andrean High School as its 2018-19 Gatorade Indiana Baseball Player of the Year. Doolin is the first Gatorade Indiana Baseball Player of the Year to be chosen from Andrean High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Doolin as Indiana’s best high school baseball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award to be announced in May, Doolin joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo High School, Mich.), Jon Lester (2001-02, Bellarmine Preparatory School, Wash.), David Price (2003-04, Blackman High School, Tenn.), Clayton Kershaw (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas), Rick Porcello (2006-2007, Seaton Hall Preparatory School, N.J.) and Kris Bryant (2009-10, Bonanza High School, Nev.).

The 6-foot-4, 195-pound senior right-handed pitcher and infielder had led the Fighting 59ers to a 19-2 record and a berth in the Class 3A state tournament at the time of his selection. A 2019 Perfect Game Preseason Second Team All-American, Doolin posted a 7-0 record on the mound with a 0.20 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 35 innings. He held opposing hitters to a .115 average through 21 games. The 2018 NWI Times Co-Player of the Year, Doolin was batting .490 with four home runs, 27 RBI and a .603 on-base percentage entering the postseason.

A member of the National Honor Society and his school’s senior spirit club, Doolin has volunteered locally on behalf of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. “I have been a baseball coach for 23 years and it’s not often we see a player like Mike Doolin,” said Highland High School head coach John Bogner. “We have seen numerous players have good years, but this young man has had an amazing career. His resume speaks for itself. He is a state champion and he could make any team at any level contend for a title. His leadership on the field is very admirable. As an opponent, we are sure glad to see him graduate. As a coach and person who loves the sport of baseball, it’s been an honor to watch him compete.”

Doolin has maintained a 3.96 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at Vanderbilt University beginning this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. From the 12 national winners, one male and one female athlete are each named Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year. In all, 607 athletes are honored each year.

Doolin joins recent Gatorade Indiana Baseball Players of the Year Nicholas Schnell (2017-18, Roncalli High School), Garrett Schoenle(2016-17, Northrop High School), T.J. Collett (2015-16, Terre Haute North Vigo High School) and Ashe Russell (2014-15 & 2013-14, Cathedral High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.

As a part of Gatorade’s cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Doolin also has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year.

Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit www.Gatorade.com/POY, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade

Dave Griffin will once again be hosting Summer Baseball Camps. Coach Griffin and his staff will focus on mechanics to better prepare players for the 2019 summer seasons.

The camp will take place June 24th through June 26th with two different age groups. If interested, please call 219.922.1107 to register. Spots are limited and are based on a first come, first serve basis.

Date: June 24th through June 26th
Time: 9:00 am to 11:00 am
Ages: 7 years old to 10 years old
Cost: $75.00

Date: June 24th through June 26th
Time: 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Ages: 11 years old to 13 years old
Cost: $75.00

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Tulane junior infielder Kody Hoese has been named the 2019 American Athletic Conference Baseball Player of the Year, while being one of four Tulane players named to the league’s annual postseason all-conference teams the league announced on Monday afternoon ahead of the start of the conference tournament in Florida.

The Griffith, Indiana, native leads the Green Wave contingent by being a first team all-conference selection, as pitcher Kaleb Roper, catcher Frankie Niemann and outfielder Hudson Haskin were named second team all-conference.

This is the first all-conference nod for all four players in their Tulane careers, as the Green Wave’s multiple honorees follow the 2016 team for the second-most since joining the American Athletic Conference.

Hoese is the second Tulane player to earn the conference’s top individual award, following Hunter Williams in 2017 who was named the co-player of the year that season. It is the 24^th time in program history that a Green Wave player has earned individual league honors stretching back to the Metro Conference and Conference USA.

A semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, Hoese finished the season leading the Green Wave in batting average, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, runs scored, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and total bases in 2019, ranking in the top 10 nationally in six offensive categories.

Hoese’s .388 batting average, 87 total hits, 69 runs, 177 total bases, .484 on-base percentage and .790 slugging percentage led the American Athletic Conference, as the 23 home runs is a new league record. He also had three individual game high performances in the conference with his five-hit outing against New Orleans and three home run, 13 total base contest against Lamar.

In a stellar freshman campaign, Haskin ended the regular season finishing sixth in the league in hits, third in runs scored, tied for third in doubles, tied for second in triples, ninth in RBI and third in total bases. He also finished the year third in on-base percentage and second in slugging.

Against league foes, the New York native finished with the second-highest batting average ever in the conference at .432, leading the league in hits with 38 and on-base percentage at .536, producing a five-hit game on the road at ECU with 10 total bases which were league individual game highs.

As a redshirt senior, Roper heads into the conference tournament leading Tulane in ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts, while tied for the team lead in wins with six. He ranked in the top 10 in the league in those categories, while being one of five pitchers this year with a complete game in the conference.

Roper struck out eight or more batters in a contest five times on the year, including have a pair of double-digit strikeout games. One of those games was an eight-inning outing where he fanned 11 against USF, allowing just a run on four hits with a walk.

The sophomore Niemann finished third on the team with a .329 batting average after playing in 44 games with 36 starts. He earned 46 hits with 14 doubles, four home runs and 36 RBI, having 13 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games.

Behind the plate Niemann had a fielding percentage of .988 over the course of the year, while in conference he was even better with a percentage of .994.

Tulane opens the 2019 American Athletic Baseball Championship on Tuesday night, taking on the UCF Knights at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Florida.

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.

Tulane Greenwave Article – Link

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Tulane junior infielder Kody Hoese was named to American Athletic Conference’s weekly honor roll the league announced on Monday.

It’s the fifth time this season the Indiana native has been honored by the conference as he’s been named the player of the week twice and to the honor roll three times, joining teammate Kaleb Roper in earning multiple selections to the list this season. In all, five Green Wave players have earned eight spots on the weekly list which includes selections by Hudson Haskin, Josh Bates and Chase Solesky.

Hoese led Tulane at the plate in four games last week, batting .429 with six hits in 14 plate appearances where he had five RBI and five runs scored. He slugged .857, while drawing four walks to sport a .579 on-base percentage.

In the first game of a marathon day at the park on Saturday against Houston, Hoese belted a pair of home runs, driving in three and scoring twice to jump back into a tie for the nation’s lead in the category with his 22^nd and 23^rd home runs of the season. It was his third multi-home run game of the season, as he is now tied for second at Tulane with the most in a single season.

In the second game, Hoese went 3-for-5 at the dish, driving in a pair of runs and scoring three times in aiding in the 9-7 win over the Cougars.

Tulane is back in action on Tuesday, taking on the South Alabama Jaguars at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium at 6:30 p.m.

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.

PNW Baseball will host a camp open to current high school students, limited to the first 55 registered. Players will be evaluated at their positions. Players should bring all baseball equipment and wear baseball pants. PLAYERS MUST WEAR TURF SHOES AND BRING SPIKES. Campers will receive a t-shirt. Questions contact Dave Griffin 989-8018 or david.griffin@pnw.edu.

Registration Link

In the latest mock draft for the 2019 MLB draft, Perfect Game has Kody Hoese going with the 30th pick to the New York Yankees. Hoese, a product of Griffith High School and Dave Griffin’s baseball school leads NCAA Division 1 baseball in home runs. Hoese currently plays for Tulane University and has lead the Green Wave to a 28-20 record.

Perfect Game Scouting Information

30. New York Yankees | Kody Hoese, 3B, Tulane
The Yankees aren’t afraid to grab players they value and they’ll get the player who may have the best numbers in college this year. Hoese will likely be an above-average defender at third and teams are confident in the bat and the power that comes with it. In other words, Hoese sneaking into the first wouldn’t be a surprise at this point.

Indiana sophomore right-handed pitcher Connor Manous pitched three scoreless innings in relief in a 9-3 victory over Ball State to help the No. 23 Hoosiers improve to a 28-13 overall.

Manous, a Munster graduate, allowed only one hit and struck out a season-high five batters in the game Wednesday. He also didn’t walk anyone as Indiana got its 11th victory in the past 12 games.

On April 14, Manous also pitched two scoreless relief innings, striking out a team-high four batters in a 6-5, 10-inning victory over Evansville.

The victory helped Indiana complete the series sweep of No. 35-RPI Evansville. Manous was the first reliever in a game that saw a total of seven Indiana pitchers.

Two days prior, Manous pitched one inning of relief for a combined shutout with Pauly Milto as the Hoosiers earned a 5-0 win over Evansville.

Through 19 appearances on the mound this season, Manous is 1-0 with one save, a 2.27 ERA, eight earned runs, nine walks and 24 strikeouts in 31.2 innings, surpassing his mark last year of 14 strikeouts for the season.

By By Walter Villa, D1Baseball.com

Tulane third baseman Kody Hoese leads Division I with 21 home runs, but his success this season is beyond surprising.

In fact, it almost never happened.

Hoese, now 21, hit just .213 with no homers in 44 games as a freshman, most of them at shortstop. As a sophomore, he moved to third base full-time and improved his OPS from .566 to .803 with five homers. He was draft eligible as a sophomore that year, and the Kansas City Royals selected him in the 35th round.

“It was a tough decision – I was pretty close to signing,” Hoese said. “Playing pro baseball has always been my dream.”

But Hoese – a Finance major and the son of an accountant – crunched the numbers and decided that the Royals’ offer wasn’t royal enough.

He came back to Tulane and has simply exploded, hitting .417/.500/.881, ranking second in the nation with a 1.381 OPS. He leads the American Athletic Conference in all those and many other categories, and he ranks among the national leaders, too.

Hoese, a righthanded hitter, also ranks among the nation’s top 75 prospects, which would peg him as a top-three-rounds player. But don’t tell that to Tulane coach Travis Jewett.

“First round,” Jewett said without hesitation when asked about Hoese. “He’s proving to everyone he’s a major league talent, and those guys go in first round.

“Someone will get a heck of a player and an even better person. He’s a humble kid who doesn’t get too high or too low.”

Hoese – pronounced HO-zee – is from Griffith, Ind., which is in the Chicago metropolitan area. He grew up a Cubs, Bears and Bulls fan, and he sprouted from 6-foot to 6-4 between the eighth grade and his sophomore year of high school.

Like a lot of Indiana kids, Hoese played basketball, and he was good enough to start on the Griffith High varsity as a freshman. But it was after that season that Hoese decided to quit basketball to devote himself to baseball, and that is yet another decision that has worked out well for him.

Hoese went on to star at shortstop for Griffith, parlaying his high school success into an offer from Tulane.

“Kody loved the facilities and the warm weather,” said his father, Dave.

However, shortly after Hoese signed with Tulane, the coach who recruited him, David Pierce, took the top job with the Texas Longhorns, taking his top assistants with him, Phil Miller and Sean Allen.

Still, Hoese never thought about transferring, and Jewett, who was hired about two weeks later, is grateful.

“I didn’t recruit him, but thank goodness someone did,” Jewett said. “I don’t know if anybody thought he would be the player he has turned out to be, but I’m happy he’s here.”

Tulane (26-14, 8-3), which is in second place in its conference, wouldn’t be where it is without Hoese, who has hit in 38 of 40 games. The exceptions happened on Feb. 24, when he went 0-for-4 against Ole Miss; and on March 31, when he went 0-for-2 with three walks against Cincinnati.

With 16 regular-season games remaining – plus the playoffs – Hoese is already seventh in school history on the single-season home run chart. With three more homers, he would be alone in second place as he pursues the school record-holder, Jason Sparks, who hit 30 in 1998.

Hoese has also done some good things without a bat in his hands, including a .959 fielding percentage (just four errors) and four stolen bases in four tries.

“There’s nothing he can’t do,” Jewett said. “He has the courage to handle the hot smash, the athleticism to field the ball on the run and the arm to throw from any angle.”

Given that he was a shortstop in high school, perhaps that athleticism defensively is not surprising now that he’s at third base.

But how he has transformed himself offensively is more complex.

For starters, Hoese is now able to spend more time playing baseball outdoors, and that has quickened his progress. Back home in Griffith, due to the frigid winters, Hoese’s seasons would start in March. He and his teammates would do a lot work with indoor batting cages, but typically the first popup Hoese would field would come on opening day of the high school season.

Secondly, Hoese has gotten stronger since enrolling at Tulane, gaining about 25 pounds of muscle, with room for 20 more quite comfortably. He currently weighs 200 pounds on his 6-4 frame.

Lastly, Hoese has just gotten smarter about baseball.

“Kody has identified how his swing works,” Jewett said. “He is using deductive reasoning to understand how pitchers are trying to get him out. He is finding the bottom and the middle of the ball and striking it with force.”

On most nights, there are 20 to 25 scouts in attendance at Hoese’s games. His decision to return to school for one more year has proven correct so far, and Jewett said the secret sauce has been hard work.

“He is such an invested kid, working on his swing and taking grounders all the time,” Jewett said. “He has a good plan when he gets to the plate, and his frame is so good.

“You kind of knew his power would come. It’s just shown up sooner than we thought.”

By Mike Hutton-Post-Tribune

Hanover Central’s Evan Momcilovic has been pitching to his brother, Sam, for as long as he can remember.

Those memories are going to fade into the sunset, and both are determined to make their senior year the best season.ADVERTISING

“I’ve been pitching to him my whole life,” Evan said. “He understands me more than anyone I know. It’s been fun.”

Said Sam, a three-year starter at catcher for the Wildcats: “We have good chemistry. I trust him when he shakes me off. We just know each other so well.”

This isn’t just a feel-good story about two kids who happen to play on the same high school team.

Evan and Sam are key players for Hanover Central (7-0, 5-2).

Sam is batting .550, and Hanover Central coach Ryan Bridges said Evan is his best pitcher.

Bridges is using Evan as an “opener,” which means he brings him into the game at pivotal moments.

In five appearances, Evan hasn’t allowed a run in 10 innings. He also has struck out 14 without a walk. He has one save.

Evan, who also plays second base, bats in the leadoff spot. He’s hitting .409.

He said he likes his new role. He mostly pitched as a starter last season.

“He tells me I might be throwing today,” Evan said of Bridges. “It just depends on how the game is going. I like coming later in the game.”

The Momcilovic brothers are triplets. They have a sister, Ana.

Bridges believes the rapport between Evan and Sam has helped Evan the most.

“Evan is a sidearmer whose ball has a lot of movement,” Bridges said. “It’s just comfortable for him to have Sam back there. They are usually on the same page with pitch selection.”

Sam is adept at handling all of Hanover Central’s pitchers.

Bridges said one of the Wildcats’ pitchers shook off Sam, who calls his own games, a couple of times last Saturday against the No. 8 hitter.

Sam walked out to the mound, “chewed him out” and told him to get something over the plate, according to Bridges.

He did and retired the batter.

“He’s caught a lot of games,” Bridges said of Sam. “He knows what he’s doing back there.”

Sam has also improved at the plate this season. He hit .270 last year.

Bridges said Sam used to pull out of pitches.

He’s cut down on that.

“He’s really made solid contact,” Bridges said. “He’s made some adjustments.”

Sam said his hitting improvement has more to do with his outlook.

“I’m definitely seeing it better,” he said. “I’m more comfortable this year. Honestly, a big reason is that it’s my last year and I don’t feel the pressure.”