There’s really nothing too extraordinary about the baseball field at the John Carroll School.
It’s nestled in the center of a rolling 72-acre campus in suburban Bel Air. The bases are still 90 feet apart, the pitcher’s mound is still 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate, and the 6-foot-tall black, chain-link fence lining the outfield is still probably just a little bit too shallow for competitive high school baseball.
Out of a ballpark built by the book, however, came a player who seemed destined to break every record in it. Joe Stetka knew as much when he first stepped onto that field with K.J. Hockaday in fall 2009. This, he thought, was someone meant to play beyond the school’s paltry boundaries.
“I had known of him,” said Stetka, who was named the Patriots’ coach before Hockaday’s junior season and has been involved in baseball locally for 19 years. “Harford County is a pretty tight-knit baseball group of guys, and I would always hear things about him. I’d say the first time I could actually physically work with him, I could tell he was a special kid. He just has the makeup of a professional baseball player.”
Now the Terrapins baseball team’s third baseman, Hockaday has already shown off that next-level potential as a freshman. The Baltimore Orioles knew that skill was there even before he ever set foot in Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium, drafting the hometown star in the 14th round of June’s draft and forcing him to decide between the Terps and his major league dream.
Hockaday chose the Terps. Entering this weekend’s home series with Duke, they’re far better for it. The team’s lone freshman starter is tied with right fielder Jordan Hagel for the team’s lead in batting (.323) and ranks second on the team with 16 RBI and 21 runs scored.
For coach Erik Bakich, the assessment of Hockaday is simple: “He’s a future star.”
PREP STAR
When Stetka first started coaching Hockaday, it was obvious the Joppa native was a rare talent. Hockaday was coming off a sophomore campaign in which he hit 11 home runs, making him the centerpiece of a young John Carroll team that started six sophomores that year.
The Patriots hadn’t made the playoffs in more than a decade, perpetually dwarfed by perennial Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association powers such as Calvert Hall and Gilman. The talent was there – Hockaday’s best friend on the team, Brendan Butler, was drafted in the 50th round by the Orioles and currently plays for Towson – but the results had yet to show.
It’s easy enough to draw a parallel between Hockaday’s high school team and the one he now plays for in College Park. The Terps haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament in four decades and haven’t qualified for the ACC’s postseason since the league expanded in 2005.
“I’ve been on programs on the rise growing up,” Hockaday said. “It just feels like the program has more to prove than a program that’s already defined in a league. I feel like [with] Coach Bakich and what he’s all about, we have a good chance to put this program on the map.”
At the same time Stetka was taking over at John Carroll, Bakich was making a move on the cornerstone of his 2011 recruiting class. Hockaday said he first heard of Bakich’s interest from his summer coach in 2009, and by early September he’d verbally committed to play for the Terps.
Fewer than three months into his coaching tenure, Bakich had one of his biggest recruits for the 2012 season.
“They showed me the most interest,” Hockaday said, “and I love it here.”
Hockaday’s college search was finished, but his high school playing career was far from over. Hockaday’s power never diminished in two years under Stetka, totaling 30 home runs in four years and surpassing the career MIAA record set by current New York Yankee and former Mount St. Joseph star Mark Teixeira.
By the time the Patriots finally broke their postseason drought in 2011, they’d earned a No. 1 ranking by The Baltimore Sun. John Carroll’s dramatic turnaround ended in the playoffs, but by then, Hockaday and his .642 batting average had already drawn enough attention.
PRO OR NO?
This time, it would come from men offering contracts, not scholarships. Since the start of his sophomore year in high school, Hockaday had been hearing about his professional potential. He attended tryouts for summer all-star teams and other showcase events, even drawing interest from the Detroit Tigers.
On June 7, it became all too real when Hockaday finally got the call: The Baltimore Orioles had selected him in the 14th round of the 2011 MLB Draft.
“It was a cool accomplishment,” Hockaday said. “I got a lot of praise for that, but that really wasn’t at the top of my mind at the time.”
“We knew he was going to get drafted,” Bakich said. “All of the best players do. It was just a question of whether the professional team was willing to really overpay the slot for the 14th round. We knew that they had significant interest in him.”
Now, Hockaday had to make one of the most important decisions of his career: pursue his dream of playing professional baseball or sign with the Terps and put that dream on hold for at least three years. In the end, Hockaday opted for College Park. He turned down the Orioles’ offer in August, telling the Sun, “It wasn’t that close at all.”
“I’ve always liked the University of Maryland,” Hockaday said. “I don’t think there’s a measure to how close I was to going pro. I just love Coach Bakich and the things that he’s doing here, so I’ve always wanted to come here and be a Terp.”
“He knew how much he was wanted in our program,” Bakich said. “I think he knew that the opportunity existed for him to make an immediate impact.”
ON CAMPUS, ON BASE
Thirty-five games into his collegiate career, Hockaday’s teammates have been struck by the manner in which the 6-foot-3, 222-pounder conducts himself.
“He’s a real confident kid, ever since he got on campus,” shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez said. “I had heard a lot of things about him, but he didn’t really talk himself up. He comes knowing that we expect to win and he helps us win, so I can’t really say much more about that.”
Across the diamond at first base, Tim Kiene has seen the exact same thing.
“He’s a confident kid,” Kiene said. “I respect him for that. I hope that he can continue to do that and do well. He’s a great player and he’ll continue to contribute and be a huge part of this team.”
Among his former star’s many attributes, Stetka highlighted Hockaday’s composure and belief in himself. The last time Stetka saw Hockaday play, both were easily apparent. In the Terps’ first ACC victory of the year, a 1-0 win over No. 9 North Carolina on March 18 at Shipley Field, Stetka looked on with pride at the player he had come to know so well.
In the fourth inning of a scoreless pitcher’s duel, Hockaday, batting with two outs, worked a full count and fouled off two pitches. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat against Tar Heels pitcher Benton Moss, Hockaday lined a double off the top of the center-field wall. He would prove the difference in the game one batter later, scoring on a Hagel single.
Hockaday turned in a repeat performance two innings later, this time with added drama. Halfway through his at-bat against Moss, Hockaday fouled a pitch off his knee and collapsed to the ground in pain. He got up moments later and pulled his second double of the game down the left-field line.
After the game, the freshman shrugged it off as just part of his job. Stetka wasn’t surprised. Talented, determined, composed – that’s Hockaday, he explained.
“Baseball’s a funny game,” Stetka said. “There’s a lot of highs and a lot of lows, and K.J. doesn’t seem to get rattled.
“I’ve tried to explain to him that baseball is a game of failure. You’re going to fail more than you succeed. But as long as you can understand that and deal with that, it’s going to make you that much better of a person and certainly a baseball player.”
And, before long, perhaps a professional one.
dgallen@umdbk.com
