Pitcher Jeremy Heatley’s smoking fastball lands him a scholarship at the University of Arkansas
Photo by Jason Joyce
The Blazer baseball team recently fell to 14 wins and 20 losses. They must win 11 of their fi nal 14 games in order to make the MAC playoffs. Coach Mercer says his team must play better defense, avoid big innings, and pitch consistantly to earn the fi nal spot.
Some tough luck and lack of run support saddled Blazer pitcher Jeremy Heatley with a losing record early this season.
But Heatley’s other statistics – including a 92 mile-per-hour fastball and 42 strikeouts in his first 32 innings – recently earned the North Lake College right-hander a scholarship at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
That 1-3 early-season record “is not indicative of the way he has thrown,” Blazer Coach Corey Mercer said.
Although most of Heatley’s strikeouts have ended with a smoking fastball, they were set up by three other tough pitches – slider, curve and change-of-pace. He’s also held his earned-run average to 3.9 on a team with a losing season record.
“Heatley has an excellent arm and is very talented,” said North Lake student and baseball fan John Naugle.
The six-foot-two-inch strikeout artist transferred to North Lake last year from Texas A&M University at Kingsville. The Abilene native began playing tee-ball in elementary school before moving to Breckenridge, which he described as a “football town.”
By the time he reached middle school, Heatley had become a promising pitcher.
When he graduated from high school, A&M gave him a baseball scholarship. But he also played quarterback for the football team. He decided to transfer to North Lake to concentrate on baseball and his education.
Heatley said he hopes to earn a degree in civil engineering as a backup to his dream of becoming a major league pitcher.
It’s a dream he’s nurtured for many years.
“Growing up with my dad, it’s always been a part of my life, far back as I remember, always throwing a baseball around,” Heatley said.
Among current major leaguers, Heatley’s favorite player is pitcher Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox. Among those who have retired from the ‘bigs,’ Heatley’s idol remains Nolan Ryan, a Hall of Fame pitcher who ended his career with the Texas Rangers.
He’s hoping to someday fire fastballs from the same mounds used by Ryan and Beckett.