'Cats in Baseball: Jay Heafner

'Cats in Baseball is a series of stories highlighting Davidson alumni who work in the highest levels of the game. The series opener is here.

Jay Heafner '06
• IF/RHP
• Degree: Political Science
• Scout, Texas Rangers

Jay Heafner's name appears 65 times in the Davidson record book, and scrolling through each highlighted "Heafner," it's easy to see why the 2006 graduate is known as one of the most versatile and successful Wildcats in program history.

An infielder/pitcher, he's one of three Wildcats to be named Southern Conference Player of the Year, earning the honor in 2005, following George Weicker (1975) and preceding Forrest Brandt (2014). He ranked second nationally with a .448 average that spring and set the program's single-season records for hits (91) and on-base percentage (.533). His 250 career hits rank second at Davidson, and he is also the program's career leader in … saves (25).

Former coach Dick Cooke found Heafner about an hour away at West Lincoln High School and knew he'd bring a lot to the table, wherever he fit in.

"I wasn't sure if he'd play shortstop, third base or pitch," says Cooke, who led the program for 28 seasons. "He wound up doing everything but selling programs, I think. My job was just writing his name in the lineup."

Heafner had many memorable moments in his career, but Cooke points to April 6, 2005 as a representation of his ability and role. That day, Heafner lifted the Wildcats to an 11-10 home win over Wake Forest by hitting a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and then pitching a scoreless ninth.

"He touched home plate, and I zipped him down to the bullpen," says Cooke.

Admittedly, that was one of Cooke's easier calls to get Heafner ready, but often, with so many variables at play, he relied on looking ahead multiple innings to figure out when Heafner would or could be needed.

"There's a real art form in trying to anticipate it," says Cooke. Jay Heafner Hall of Fame

Being an everyday infielder, hitting near the top of the lineup and closing games made for some unique challenges, to be sure, but Heafner enjoyed having an impact on the game in multiple ways.

"I was more of a hitter than a pitcher, but I just threw the ball over the plate relatively consistently," he says.

In 2005, Heafner was 91-for-203 at the plate with 18 doubles, 11 home runs and 58 RBIs. He slugged .700, swiped 13 bases and often used his speed to beat out grounders in the hole. His average ranked just ahead of a College of Charleston hitter named Brett Gardner (.447).

"That year, it just felt like I was on a hot streak the whole year," says Heafner.

Inducted into the Davidson Athletics Hall of Fame in January, Heafner is now an amateur scout for the Texas Rangers, the organization that drafted him in the 23rd round in 2006. It's his job to find the organization's next young talent on the Carolinas' high school and college fields.

The lone Ranger
Heafner's path to the scouting life included playing two seasons of pro ball with the Rangers organization before his time in the uniform came to an unusual end.

He was playing for the Clinton LumberKings of the Single-A Midwest League, and prior to a game at Kane County, he was asked to take part in an on-field promotion/prank with the traveling mascot BirdZerk.

The skit is a staple of minor league baseball. It includes BirdZerk "challenging" the opposing third baseman — Heafner, in this case — to a dance-off between innings, stealing the player's baseball glove (which is not really his) and riding away on his four-wheeler, throwing the glove over the outfield fence as the grand finale. Initially, Heafner didn't want to do it, didn't want to be out there on a stage by himself.

"I'm an introvert," he says. "I don't do dumb stuff like that, but I was like, 'whatever.' What am I going to do, screw up the whole promotions calendar for Kane County? So I did it. So here I am dancing in front of like 11,000 people."

The skit itself came off just fine, Heafner showed his moves and was just happy to get back to baseball. He came to the plate in the next inning and hit the ball on the ground to second.

"About three steps out of the box, my hamstring tore into shreds," he says. "I go down, and that was the end of my career. Never played again. All my buddies give me grief about how BirdZerk ended my career."

Released later that winter, Heafner stayed in touch with the guy who delivered that news — former big league catcher Scott Servais, now the manager of the Seattle Mariners. At the time, Servais was the Rangers' senior director of player development, and he told Heafner about a job opening for scouting the northeast. Heafner had begun working in the financial business and figured out that wasn't for him.
Jay Heafner pitching

"At that point, I'd have done anything (in baseball)," he says.

Hired by the Rangers in January of 2009, the Southern boy packed up and moved to New Jersey.

Scouting the countryside
Now based in Charlotte, Heafner's calendar revolves around the June amateur draft, so he's constantly on the go during the high school and college seasons, stopping long enough to fill out detailed reports on potential prospects and to plan his next road trip.

It's not exactly like recruiting for a college program, but it is a relationship-based process.

"Especially for the high school players," he says. "They've got to feel comfortable with you and the organization, so you get to know them really well. If I'm going to pluck some 17-year-old out of high school and send him to Arizona at the drop of a hat, there's got to be some trust there."

While scouting the northeast, Heafner came across a Dartmouth pitcher, who had been an Angels' late-round selection out of his California high school. The strike-throwing Big Green right-hander was hitting 90 to 94 on the radar gun, showed little emotion on the field and brought up the fall of Enron during one lunch meeting. It was Kyle Hendricks, who the Rangers would select in the eighth round in 2011. Traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2012, Hendricks scaled back his velocity to be more effective, and in 2016, he led the majors with a 2.13 ERA and started Game 7 of the World Series.

"To see some of the guys that you signed actually work out and see them on TV, that's a pretty cool experience," says Heafner.

Along the way, scouts interact with players from all backgrounds and with many different personalities and skills, and that is where Heafner believes his Davidson experience pays off significantly. He grew up in rural western Lincoln County and played American Legion ball for Cherryville Post 100, but he understands that's not everyone's story.

At Davidson, he shared classrooms and the diamond with many people from many places offering many different perspectives. Now, he feels prepared to talk to anyone.

"I can relate to the guys who are from rural towns who haven't been to a lot of events or had the exposure a lot of guys have, but I can also relate to the guys on the other end of the spectrum," he says. "You start looking at rosters, and everybody's got to come from somewhere. And they come from everywhere."

As for his time at Davidson, how does Heafner see it now?

"I loved it," he says. "I loved every minute of it. Maybe I didn't love it at 4 a.m. in the computer lab, but looking back on it, it was a great experience, not only academically but culturally, just being around different people, and then trying to balance the athletic side with the academic side."

And, of course, hitting with pitching.

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