O?Hearn named Pioneer League MVP
9/26/2014 11:00:00 AM | Baseball
Former Bearkat Ryan O'Hearn was named the Rookie Pioneer League's Most Valuable Player following his first season in professional baseball, playing for the Idaho Falls Chukars. O'Hearn is one of 13 former Bearkats who played in the Minor Leagues in 2014.
The Frisco Wakeland product was a force from the first time he entered the lineup, hitting a home run in his first professional at-bat and going 5-for-5 in the game. O'Hearn also hit a walk-off home run during the season.
O'Hearn, an eighth round pick of the Kansas City Royals, finished with a .361 batting average with 16 doubles, 13 home runs and 54 RBI. He played the majority of his games at first base but also spent some time in the outfield.
He had a 14-game hitting streak early in the season and was batting .434 at the time. Later in the season the left-handed slugger also had a hit in 13 straight games. He was awarded league player of the week once and was named a Pioneer All-Star.
Shortstop Corey Toups played alongside O'Hearn for Idaho Falls after he was selected in the 15th round by the Royals. The Woodlands native batted .335 with 20 doubles, three triples, three homers and 32 RBI.
Toups was also named a Pioneer All-Star after his outstanding rookie season. The Woodlands product had a 15-game hit streak during the middle of the season.
A draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays, Carter Burgess batted .307 in his first season of Minor League baseball. He had 14 doubles, two homers, 21 runs and 17 RBI, splitting time between second base and third base for the Princeton Rays.
Three pitchers that helped the Kats to a third straight Southland title made their professional baseball debuts in 2014. Tyler Eppler was a sixth round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates and logged 68 2/3 innings for the Jamestown Jammers. Alan Scott signed with the Miami Marlins and spent time between the Gulf Coast Rookie League and the Class-A Advanced Florida State League. Nolan Riggs signed with the San Francisco Giants and got his start in the Arizona Rookie League.
Eppler posted a 2.49 earned run average in 14 starts. The Navasota product struck out 49 batters and allowed just 11 walks. Opponents hit just .213 off of him. He finished the season with four straight quality starts.
Scott made 15 relief appearances for the GCL Marlins and had a 2.08 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. After promotion to the Jupiter Hammerheads he tossed five shutout innings over two appearances. In all, he had a 1.69 ERA with 19 strikeouts, two saves and two wins.
Riggs pitched just five times in his first season of pro ball. In his 10 innings of work he had a 5.40 ERA with 14 strikeouts. Opponents were hitting only .211 against him.
Cody Dickson and Caleb Smith each completed their second season of Minor League Baseball after being draft in 2013.
Smith started the season on fire and was named to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game. After 18 starts and a 3.10 ERA for the Charleston RiverDogs he was promoted to the Class-A Advanced Tampa Yankees where he made nine starts. He finished the season with a 3.67 ERA in 27 starts and a total of 173 strikeouts in 169 innings.
Dickson started a little slower and had his struggles early in the season. In all he logged 129 1/3 innings for the West Virginia Power with a 3.90 ERA. He made 27 total starts and finished with 104 strikeouts.
Four other former Bearkat pitchers are continuing to climb the Minor League ranks after being drafted between 2009 and 2011.
Ryan Tepera is hoping to be the next Bearkat to make the jump to the Major Leagues after his season as a reliever for the Buffalo Bisons, the Toronto Blue Jays Triple-A team. He posted a 3.66 ERA in 51 appearances. He struck out 67 batters in 64 innings pitched. Tepera was drafted in 2009 and has climbed the ranks of the Blue Jays organization in six seasons.
Dallas Gallant has had a tough time since being drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2010. The Trinity product recovered from injury and missing the first 50 games of this season to turn in a solid second half for the Class-A Cedar Rapids Kernels. He tossed 28 innings of relief with a 2-1 record, five saves and 46 strikeouts.
Matt Shelton started the season with the Class-A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga Quakes but was quickly promoted to the Chattanooga Lookouts in Double-A. The 2010 24th rounder finished the season with a combined 3.79 ERA in 102 innings. He made 19 relief appearances before the organization decided to transition him into a starter. He made 16 total starts and his numbers improved near the end of the season.
Brent Powers was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 18th round of the 2011 draft but is now a member of the Toronto Blue Jays organization after a midseason transaction. He made only four starts early in the season for the Beloit Snappers but was used almost exclusively as a starter for the Lansing Lugnuts in the second half of the season. The lefty finished with a 4.81 ERA in 48 innings pitched for Lansing.
Outfielder Dustin Martin is a nine-year Minor League Baseball veteran. He was selected by the New York Mets in the 2006 draft and was traded to the Minnesota Twins in 2007 before going back to the Mets in 2012. He has spent the last two seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. In 2014 he batted .278 with 10 homers and 45 RBI for the Diamondbacks' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.
