On Sunday, the YD Red Sox hosted the Hyannis Habor Hawks. The game was a bit sloppy with 5 combined errors (more like 7 or 8 if you ask me) and there wasn't any offensive stars -- only two players had multi-hit games. The story of the game for me was the play of two undersized players for each squad, Tyler Hanover and Casey McElroy of YD and Hyannis, respectively. The pitching for the day was mediocre at best, so two position players are the highlights for this post:
Player of Highlight
Tyler Hanover, YD/LSU, 2B/3B, Soph., Kernersville, NC, Draft Eligible: 2011
Height: 5-06, Weight: 158
Game Stats: 4AB, 2H, 1 2B, 2K
College Season Stats: .332 AVG, 2HR, 16 2B, .429SLG, .406OBP, 5SB, 4CS, 25/28 BB/K
Comments: Tyler Hanover is back on the Cape for his second summer in YD. Hanover is an overachiever at every level his has played at. He was a Second Team All-American and Gatorade Player of the Year for North Carolina in high school. He started on the CWS championship LSU Tigers team in 2009 (mostly at 3rd) and batted .321 with 5 HR, including a blast in the CWS. Last summer on the Cape, Hanover proved he belonged as he hit .300 and 2 HR and made the CCBL All-Star team. This spring, followed up with an even better sophomore season. Now he has returned to the Cape to show he deserves to be playing with the best players in the country.
To call Tyler Hanover undersized is a complete understatement. At 5'6", he is 3" shorter than Dustin Pedroia -- a player he is often compared to. While Hanover does display some of the same tools as Pedroia, namely great hand-eye coordination, solid glove and a strong arm; I doubt he will ever have the same type of power or overall hitting ability of Pedroia. He does show lightning-quick hand speed and true gap-to-gap hitting ability. One thing scouts have to love about Hanover are his intangibles. Hanover is a dirtbag, in the greatest sense of the word. It will be interesting to see if Hanover's tools will translate into the minors and the bigs despite his size.
Player of Highlight
Casey McElroy, Hyannis/Auburn, SS/2B, Soph., Orlando, FL, Draft Eligible: 2011
Height: 5-09, Weight: 181
Game Stats: 3AB, 1H, 1 2B, 1K
College Season Stats: .325AVG, 9HR, .507SLG, .409OBP, 1SB, 5CS, 28/28 BB/K
Comments: Casey McElroy has been nothing but solid for the Auburn Tigers since he stepped onto campus. He started every game as an infielder (the only player on the team to do so) and was selected as a Louisville Freshman All-American last spring. He's continued to perform this spring for the Tigers as well.
McElroy has been on a tear for the Hyannis Habor Hawks in the first 7 games of the summer. He is leading the CCBL in AVG (.409), SLG (.636), and OBP (.440). So far McElroy has shown he can spray the ball to all fields with similar gap-to-gap ability as Hanover, but with even better pop. He glove and arm aren't nearly as good as Hanover's however. And both players are average to below-average runners. If McElroy can keep up his stats for the entire summer, it could catapult him up to the early rounds.
Others to Watch
- Tanner Poppe (YD/Kansas)
Around the Cape
- Logan Verrett (Chatham/Baylor) was impressive in his first start of the summer. He will be one of the top arms in the 2011 MLB Draft.
Where I'll be next
- At YD, June 22th.
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