U baseball coach Tim Esmay can smile as another one of his former players has gone on to sign a contract with a Major League Baseball team.
After four players?pitchers Mitch Maio and Jason Wylie and sluggers Nate Weese and Donnie Saba?were drafted June 6, senior catcher Donald Hawes signed with the Cincinnati Reds to become the latest Ute headed to the big leagues.
“I’m happy for the five players because they’ve achieved their goals of making it to the next level. It says a lot to have athletes in our program that can play at the major league level,” Esmay said.
Hawes turned in a solid senior season, as he hit for a .307 average and knocked in 32 runs. He also slammed 7 home runs to go along with 36 runs scored.
Yet Hawes spent most of his time at the U splitting time with other catchers.
This year, Hawes started 42 of the U’s 59 games, and he saw action in 47 contests. Freshman Jared Snyder was able to substitute occasionally for Hawes.
Last season, Hawes split time with another U catcher. In that season, Hawes hit for a .258 average with 6 homers.
In the only year that Hawes spent as the primary starter for the Utes in 2000, he hit .249 with 10 homers and 35 RBI.
The loss of Hawes leaves yet another hole for the U, if Snyder continues pitching as he did in 2002. Last season, Snyder hit .327 as a catcher and he threw 25 innings for the Utes on the hill.
The vacancy puts the Utes in a bind, but a bind Esmay doesn’t mind.
“Every player that we are recruiting has dreams of playing professional baseball,” Esmay said.
That dream has now been realized for five U players, but at the same time it leaves the team with more holes than they may be able to fill.