By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
CATAWBA – Fans of Catawba County baseball – and more specifically at Bandys High – have another 23-year-old to follow as he makes progress in the minor leagues.
HAYDEN DEAL
In addition to first-round draft pick Hunter Harvey’s two-day stay in the major leagues earlier this month with the Baltimore Orioles, former Trojans left-hander Hayden Deal has been assigned to Class A Rome (Ga.) by the Atlanta Braves. Both are 23.
Rome will play at the Hickory Crawdads once this season, a four-game series that begins with a May 12 game at 6 p.m. at L.P. Frans Stadium. The teams also play May 13-15 with game times of 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10:35 a.m., respectively.
Deal — who signed with the Braves after a tryout at Bandys last season — began his second year in the minors on Wednesday in a game against Charleston, S.C. He pitched three innings, giving up three hits, two earned runs and walked one and struck out three.
Last season, Deal spent all but one game of his season with the GCL Braves. That one game was a call up to Rome, where he pitched the same night after making the drive from Florida.
He went 3-2 last season with an ERA of 3.23 after pitching 14 games and he earned two saves, walked nine and struck out 27.
Deal, who is 6-foot-4, 210 pounds played his college baseball at Presbyterian. His father, David, played basketball at Bandys during his athletic career.
Orioles have Jarrett with Shorebirds
Former Hickory High star Zach Jarrett has been assigned to Class A Delmarva (Md.) by the Baltimore Orioles.
Jarrett, 23, signed after being drafted in the 28th round last season after a standout college career at Charlotte.
ZACH JARRETT
This is his second season in the minors. He played 45 games last season at Aberdeen (Md.) in the New York-Penn League, hitting .252 with two home runs and seven RBIs.
In six games this season (through Thursday), Jarrett was hitting .300 with one home run and three RBIs.
Delmara has beaten the Hickory Crawdads three times this season and has another 14 games against the Crawdads, including games in Hickory on April 27-29 and May 21-24.
Jarrett (6-4, 170) is the son of two local athletes: His dad, Dale, was a NASCAR champion driver and named one of NASCAR’s Top 50 drivers, after playing football and other sports at Newton-Conover. His mom, Kelley (Spears) played basketball and other sports for the Red Devils.
All three of Zach Jarrett’s siblings have had success in sports. His brother, Jason, has raced in NASCAR-sanctioned races and his sisters, Natalee and Karsyn, were star athletes at Hickory (particularly in basketball).
Natelee graduated from North Carolina and is Director of Marketing and Partnerships for the Women’s Sports Foundation in New York City.
Karsyn, a Georgia graduate, is also working in New York City as a writer and actress who has a series on utube: http://www.karsynjarrett.com/youtube-series/