Two Chattanooga-area players still playing professional baseball will begin their 2010 seasons in Class AAA.
Wes Hodges will be with the Columbus (Ohio) Clippers, a Cleveland Indians affiliate, and Cory Gearrin will be in Gwinnett County with the Atlanta Braves’ top minor league team.
Hodges, a Baylor School graduate and a second-round draft choice by the Indians out of Georgia Tech, is penciled in to start at third base for the Clippers. He hit .265 in 86 games with five homers and 24 doubles for Columbus last season. In 11 spring-training games with the Indians, Hodges hit .417 (10-for-24) with four doubles, a home run, seven RBIs and just one strikeout.
Gearrin, who played at Rhea County, is a reliever who had 19 saves and a 2.30 ERA in stops at Class A Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Class AA Mississippi.
Kyler Burke, the former Ooltewah player who was named the Chicago Cubs’ minor league player of the year following the 2009 season, will open the year at Daytona in the Florida State League. Last year, he hit .303 with 43 doubles, three triples, 15 homers, 89 RBIs, 93 runs and a .405 on-base percentage in 132 games for Single-A Peoria, Ill.
He led the Midwest League in doubles, was second in on-base percentage and extra-base hits (61), was third in runs scored and slugging percentage (.505), tied for third in RBIs and was sixth in batting average. His 43 doubles were second-most by a left-handed hitter in minor league baseball. He played all three outfield positions and first base, and his 14 outfield assists led the Cubs’ farm system.
Tyler Massey, a Baylor grad who passed up a Virginia scholarship to sign with the Colorado Rockies, will start his second full season with the Asheville (N.C.) Tourists, a Class A franchise in the South Atlantic League. Projected as the Tourists’ starting left fielder, Massey hit .220 with 19 extra-base hits in 404 at-bats last year in Asheville.
Former Charleston and Cleveland State pitcher Jason Davis, who pitched for the Indians, Mariners, Rangers and Pirates, is currently out of baseball, but there is a big-leaguer who now calls Chattanooga home. Seattle Mariners pitcher Shawn Kelley is married to former Ooltewah volleyball player Kelsey McNally. Kelley, the Ohio Valley Conference pitcher of the year in 2007, grew up in Louisville, Ky.
Baylor finally at home
Baylor will finally get to play a home baseball game.
The Red Raiders, who thought they might not get to play on their campus field because wet conditions had prevailed since the season started, will be at home for a 5 p.m. game Wednesday against Ooltewah.
“We got that stretch of warm weather and sunshine, and that seems to have solved the problem,” coach Gene Etter said. “We were scheduled to play Thursday, but there’s a chance of rain then and Ooltewah was agreeable, so we moved the game to Wednesday.”
Heritage on right track
Heritage High in Ringgold won just four games in its inaugural baseball season last year but, after a 1-3 start, has won seven of its last nine games. The Generals have defeated established Catoosa County rivals Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold.
Coach Eric Beagles said the improvement is both physical and mental.
“The biggest improvement right now we’re seeing is we’re able to put the ball in play a little more,” he said. “Our defense plays with a little more confidence, and our mound performances are getting better every time out. The guys have learned how to battle through adversity better this year instead of accepting defeat.”
Special Marion feat
At this point in the high school softball season, Marion County can claim something no other team can. The Lady Warriors scored an earned run against Soddy-Daisy.
It happened over the weekend when Soddy-Daisy hosted its 20th Lady Trojan Invitational. Class A Marion County (8-8) was facing the Class AAA power in pool play Friday afternoon when Taylor Brown drew a two-out walk. Hannah Morrison followed with an RBI double off fellow freshman Tori Denayer.
“They have a great team,” Marion coach Thomas Long said of the Lady Trojans. “They’ve got a lot of good hitters. I’m sure they’ll go far, if not all the way. I’m especially happy for my freshman. She’s practiced so hard. She showed when she gets her cuts, she’s not going to be intimidated.”
Soddy-Daisy’s only loss came in the Brentwood Invitational when it gave up an unearned run to Ooltewah.