The Hoptown Hoppers have begun to unveil their 2018 roster which will include a pair of former local high school players.
Tyler Graham and Dixon Craft were announced Wednesday as members of the upcoming team through a press release. The team is expected to announce roster additions each week through similar press releases.
Graham, a Hopkinsville High graduate and sophomore at Union College, played for the Hoppers last year. While he hit just .182 in 22 games as an infielder, he was 2-1 with two saves and 30 strikeouts in 28 innings on the mound.
“Tyler is currently playing at Union College in Kentucky and as a freshman, he helped them qualify for the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament as a platoon player who also saw time on the mound. The AAC is one of the better conferences in the NAIA,” said new Hoppers Coach Brock Moss.
Craft, a graduate of Christian County High School, attends Rend Lake College. As a freshman last year, Craft batted .326 with an on-base percentage of nearly .400. He played for the Paducah Chiefs in the Ohio Valley League last year where he hit .269 with two home runs and 15 RBIs. He also saw limited time on the mound where he had one save and a 1.93 ERA in five innings pitched.
“On the mound for Rend Lake, he averaged nearly a strikeout per inning and will help the Hoppers when called to toe the rubber,” Moss said.
The Hoppers won the OVL West by five games last year with a record of 24-16. They advanced to the championship series where they were swept in the championship series by Dubois County.
Moss was named head coach of the Hoppers in September. He serves as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Georgia Highlands College. The Hoppers were unable to sign junior college players last year because their head coach worked at an NCAA school. Coaching junior college players would have been a violation of NCAA rules. The Hoppers do not have that restriction this year.
“This city has a standard and it is one we expect to uphold. A tradition of winning has been built here and that is exactly what we intend to do,” Moss said. “We will be a very young team, one of the younger in the league potentially. Our entire roster has only four upperclassmen on it. Youth is definitely on our side; although we are young, we are a very talented team. Our coaching staff worked really hard to put this team together. We think it is something the town of Hopkinsville will be very proud of supporting.”
The Hoppers, who will play their home games at Christian County High School, open their season May 31.
