Hayden Fox, LHP

[tjfla]

Discuss

[HUGG]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LomCpLcIyTw[/ame]

[Ramp]

if he's anything like Thomas Hayden Church or Hayden Penatierre, we're in for a treat

[emkayseven]

Oakland left-handed pitcher Hayden Fox was selected by the Miami Marlins in the 21st round of the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, the league announced via teleconference on Wednesday. The redshirt sophomore from Macomb, Mich. became the 16th Golden Grizzlies player to be drafted out of college.

“I am very happy for Hayden,” said head coach John Musachio. “He has worked extremely hard and overcome adversity to become the prospect that he is now. He has a very bright future and we could not be more proud him.”

Fox posted 94 strikeouts over 91.1 innings in his first three seasons with the Golden Grizzlies. He has earned a 5-8 record with a 6.90 ERA and was a weekend starter for the Black and Gold this season. Fox made a quick impression at OU, by going 3-0 as a freshman with 28 strikeouts.

This season, Fox had 63strikeouts in 61.2 innings and twice struck out nine batters in a single game. Both his wins in 2012 came in Summit League play, as he posted a 2.95 ERA against league opponents. Fox threw five scoreless innings in his win over Oral Roberts to help Oakland end the Golden Eagles’ streak of 39 consecutive league series wins at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

With two years of college eligibility remaining, Fox retains the option to return to the Oakland baseball team. If he did so, he would again become draft-eligible at the end of his redshirt junior year.

This season the Golden Grizzlies won 21 of the final 29 regular season games and posted a 15-6 record in league play to finish second in The Summit League. The Golden Grizzlies also equaled the school’s best tournament finish in it's NCAA Division I era.

http://www.ougrizzlies.com/sports/m-...060612aaa.html

[tjfla]

According to BA-Signed

[HUGG]

Any buyout to the Orlando Breakers?

[emkayseven]

The baseball rocketed off the bat of the Oklahoma University player. It covered 60 feet, six inches with alarming brevity.

The baseball slammed into Oakland University pitcher Hayden Fox, who collapsed near the mound.

“It seemed like by the time the ball left the bat, Hayden was down on the ground. He wasn’t moving. I was scared to death. The crowd went completely quiet,” said his father, Dave Fox.

These days, there’s a different sort of soundtrack to baseball for Hayden Fox, who completed his redshirt sophomore season for the OU Golden Grizzlies earlier this summer. It’s one of applause and hearty congratulations.

The 6-4 lefty out of Dakota High School was taken in the 21st round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Miami Marlins in June.

Fox is now playing for the Marlins in the Gulf Coast League in Florida. Home is a hotel room in West Palm Beach where he rooms with Tyler Higgins, a second-year pitcher from Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

“I am very happy for Hayden,” said Oakland University coach John Musachio. “He has worked extremely hard and overcome adversity to become the prospect that he is now. He has a very bright future and we could not be more proud of him.”

The Marlins play at Roger Dean Stadium in nearby Jupiter. It is an outstanding baseball complex shared by the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals.

“As a young kid, I was just like nearly every other American kid; I wanted to be a professional athlete,” said Hayden Fox.

That dream nearly came to an abrupt conclusion on the first weekend of the 2011 college season. That baseball hit in Norman, Oklahoma, slammed into the triceps muscle of Hayden Fox’s pitching arm. It was diagnosed as a deep bone bruise, but it also rendered him unable to throw for quite some time.

“It was about ½ inch above my elbow,” said Hayden Fox. “If that ball had been any lower, it would have shattered my elbow for sure. When it first happened, I was obviously in shock. When the x-rays came back negative with no broken bones, I thought ‘Thank God.’”

He was a medical red-shirt that year.

Fox posted 94 strikeouts over 91.1 innings in his first three seasons with Oakland University. He went 3-0 with 29 strikeouts as a freshman.

This past season, Fox had 63 strikeouts in 61.2 innings and twice struck out nine batters in a single game. He posted a 2.95 earned run average against Summit League opponents.

He played for coach Ken Thoel at Dakota and the Cougars won a regional championship his junior year. He also played on the JetBox Baseball Club for coach Gary Zelmanski.

While all of his coaches have had an impact, probably none impacted him more than private pitching coach Joe Fletcher, who worked with him from his sophomore to his senior years in high school.

“My dad found out about Joe Fletcher; he was a very well-known pitching coach who played at Michigan State for a while and had a professional career. He spent half of every week in the Macomb County area, and the other half in the Chicago area. He had players who he was coaching in both places.

“The first time Joe Fletcher saw me throw, he told me that I was going to be a professional ballplayer someday. That’s when I actually thought it could happen. When Joe Fletcher passed away from a heart attack right before my senior season in high school, it was really, really tough on me,” said Hayden Fox.

“When I got drafted, the first thing I thought of was Joe Fletcher and what he had told me. I thought he’s up there looking down and smiling,” continued Fox.

Smiling is probably not always the expression of choice down in West Palm Beach these days. The alarm clock in the room is permanently affixed to 6:30 a.m., an ungodly hour for someone fresh off a typical college schedule that often emphasized late classes and first meals called lunch, not breakfast.

But, down in Florida, after a quick breakfast in the hotel restaurant, the players take the drive on I-95 to the baseball complex in Jupiter. Workouts start shortly after they arrive in Jupiter.

The Gulf Coast League is a rookie league with a season that runs from mid-June to late August. The regular season is 60 games long and teams are divided into three divisions; East, North and South. The Marlins are in the East Division.

All weekday games start at noon, while Saturday contests begin at 10 a.m. The players have only Sunday off.

“For home games, we’re on the field at 8:45 and not off until 3 p.m. If we are on the road, we don’t get back until 5 or 5:30. We come back, eat dinner, and I go right up to my room and put a movie on. I’m so tired I am usually sleeping before it is over,” said Fox

“I would not say I am homesick, but I do definitely miss my mom’s lasagna,” he said, chuckling.

Dave and Diane Fox have two children; Hayden and Troy. Hayden was majoring in communications at Oakland University.

He’s communicating his love for baseball right now. The dream lives on in Jupiter, Florida.

http://www.dailytribune.com/article/...ger=full_story

[FishFF]

[Miamarlin21]

That's some big league hair right there.