Jay Heafner is hitting .361 in his last 10 games.
Two Former Wildcats Thriving in Minors
8/26/2007 3:37:51 PM | Baseball
Gavin McFarlin
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Davidson baseball alumnus Jay Heafner '06 and Brian Akin '04 recently have been making some noise for their respective organization's minor league baseball teams.
Heafner, who was a 23rd-round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2006 and currently playing for the Clinton LumberKings of the Class A Midwest League, has been hitting at a .361 clip the past 10 games (13-for-36). During his past 10 contests, which he has started every game, Heafner has collected three doubles, driven in seven runs and had five multi-hit games. The former Southern Conference Player of the Year in 2005 is hitting .308 overall in the month of August after swinging at a .273 clip in July.
Heafner had a season to remember in his junior campaign in 2005, finishing second nationally with a .448 average and earning third-team All-America honors. He finished his Davidson career among the top 10 in career hits, doubles, RBIs, runs, extra-base hits, total bases, walks, sacrifice flies, games played and at-bats.
Akin has continued his climb to being the first Davidson player since Robert Eenhoorn to reach the major leagues when he was recently promoted to Triple-A, Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League. Las Vegas is an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who selected Akin in the 14th-round of the 2004 MLB First-Year Draft.
Coming off an All-Star invite in the Florida State League last season and finishing the year with the Double-A Jacksonville Suns, Akin shined in his first appearance with Las Vegas. He went two innings in his first outing on Friday Aug. 17, allowing just one hit and ringing up three batters.
In his 68 innings at Jacksonville in Double-A before his call-up this season, he had struck out 91 batters (just over 12 per nine innings), and has set down a combined 185 batters the past two years in 79 games.
He finished last season with a 2-1 mark in 20 games for Jacksonville, while earning a respectable 2.95 ERA in 36.2 innings. Akin also chipped in six saves and closed out his 2006 campaign with 13 saves to go along with 94 strikeouts in 71.2 innings in his stints with the Dodgers' single-A and Double-A teams.
A native of Louisville, Ky., Akin was a second-team All-Southern Conference performer as a senior for the Wildcats, sporting an 8-3 record with a 3.30 ERA. In his 101.0 innings on the mound, he struck out 95 and walked just 30. He also pitched a complete-game victory in the SoCon Tournament over second-seeded Georgia Southern, Davidson's lone win in the conference tournament since 1994.
Heafner, who was a 23rd-round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2006 and currently playing for the Clinton LumberKings of the Class A Midwest League, has been hitting at a .361 clip the past 10 games (13-for-36). During his past 10 contests, which he has started every game, Heafner has collected three doubles, driven in seven runs and had five multi-hit games. The former Southern Conference Player of the Year in 2005 is hitting .308 overall in the month of August after swinging at a .273 clip in July.
Heafner had a season to remember in his junior campaign in 2005, finishing second nationally with a .448 average and earning third-team All-America honors. He finished his Davidson career among the top 10 in career hits, doubles, RBIs, runs, extra-base hits, total bases, walks, sacrifice flies, games played and at-bats.
Akin has continued his climb to being the first Davidson player since Robert Eenhoorn to reach the major leagues when he was recently promoted to Triple-A, Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League. Las Vegas is an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who selected Akin in the 14th-round of the 2004 MLB First-Year Draft.
Coming off an All-Star invite in the Florida State League last season and finishing the year with the Double-A Jacksonville Suns, Akin shined in his first appearance with Las Vegas. He went two innings in his first outing on Friday Aug. 17, allowing just one hit and ringing up three batters.
In his 68 innings at Jacksonville in Double-A before his call-up this season, he had struck out 91 batters (just over 12 per nine innings), and has set down a combined 185 batters the past two years in 79 games.
He finished last season with a 2-1 mark in 20 games for Jacksonville, while earning a respectable 2.95 ERA in 36.2 innings. Akin also chipped in six saves and closed out his 2006 campaign with 13 saves to go along with 94 strikeouts in 71.2 innings in his stints with the Dodgers' single-A and Double-A teams.
A native of Louisville, Ky., Akin was a second-team All-Southern Conference performer as a senior for the Wildcats, sporting an 8-3 record with a 3.30 ERA. In his 101.0 innings on the mound, he struck out 95 and walked just 30. He also pitched a complete-game victory in the SoCon Tournament over second-seeded Georgia Southern, Davidson's lone win in the conference tournament since 1994.
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