Last season, that potential began to emerge as the Terps solidified themselves as one of the top defensive teams in the conference, finishing second with a .973 fielding percentage. Offensively, four of the team’s top five hitters return from a year ago, two of which occupy starting positions in the infield.
One of the emerging talents is sophomore third baseman K.J. Hockaday, who was ranked byBaseball America as the eighth-best MLB prospect in the ACC for the 2014 MLB Draft. Hockaday started all 56 games for the Terps last season and was second on the team in hits (62), RBI (27) and runs (35), and ranked third in batting average (.305) and slugging percentage (.404).
“He has had a good preseason,” said head coach John Szefc. “I think he is a lot better defensively from where he was a year ago. His range is better and he makes the routine plays and has plenty of arm. Offensively, Rob [Vaughn] has done a good job with helping him attack inside the ball.”
If Hockaday improves on his freshman campaign, the sophomore may be primed for a special season.
Across the diamond, after a strong summer in the Cape Cod League where he was named to Perfect Game USA‘s Top Prospects List, junior Tim Kiene should continue to provide the Terps an offensive jolt. Kiene led the squad with six home runs last season despite missing 15 games due to injury.
Kiene made 31 starts at first base last season, but may DH and split time with freshman LaMonte Wade at first. Wade, who entered the fall as an outfielder, surprised the coaching staff with his defensive ability in the fall.
from umterps.com
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