LITTLE ROCK - Following the shortened 2020 baseball season, Little Rock saw a number of both returning and incoming players compete in summer baseball leagues around the country.
Luke Wallner - The junior right hander threw 28 innings for the Forest Lake Brewers of the Minnesota Baseball Association. Wallner gave up just eight earned runs, the least amount of runs in the league by a qualified pitcher, with 33 strikeouts compared to just two walks and a 0.64 ERA.
Austin Smith - The junior lefty earned Co-Pitcher of the Year honors for Home Zone Furniture of the Metro Summer Collegiate League, based in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Smith went 6-0 during the summer schedule, striking out 40 in 27 innings pitched with a 0.67 ERA, allowing just nine walks.
Aaron Funk - The two-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week continued his dominating performance for the Liberal Bee Jays of the Jayhawk League. Funk went 6-0 during his summer in Kansas with a 57 strikeouts over 35 innings, finishing with a 2.06 ERA and surrendering just eight walks.
Hayden Arnold - Arnold was another Trojan pitcher that bolstered the staff for the Liberal Bee Jays and was one of Liberal's most experienced pitchers, logging 38.1 innings. Arnold finished the year with a 1.31 ERA with 60 strikeouts (tops among the pitching staff) while allowing just two walks in helping guide the Bee Jays to the 2020 NBC World Series.
Cole Evans - The junior right hander was another Trojan that made a name for himself in Liberal, pitching 27.2 innings for the Bee Jays with seven starts. Evans tallied 53 strikeouts opposed to just 11 walks and finished the summer with a 1.30 ERA, helping the Bee Jays qualify for the NBC World Series.
Calvin Hunt - Hunt rounded out the Trojan pitching quartet that spent the summer with the Liberal Bee Jays as the redshirt freshman freshman right hander saw action out of the bullpen. Hunt finished the summer with a 5.06 ERA.
Tyler Williams - The redshirt freshman spent the summer with the Macon Bacon of the Coastal Plains League and was one of the team's most explosive hitters. Williams finished the summer with 12 hits, five RBI and 10 runs scored in 54 at bats, including three doubles and a pair of home runs with six stolen bases.
Cal Beardsley - The left handed pitcher joined Williams in Macon for the summer and made 12 appearances for the Bacon, including three starts. Beardsley went 1-1 with a 5.51 ERA over 16.1 innings pitched, striking out 20.
Nathan Lyons - The sophomore from Bentonville competed for Perfect Timing during the first half of the summer schedule. The middle infielder compiled 41 at-bats, putting together an impressive .504 slugging percentage with five steals and drawing eight walks.
Kenny Rodriguez - The junior outfielder competed for the Winter Garden Squeeze of the Florida Collegiate Summer League. Rodriguez batted .218 in 55 plate appearances, driving in 15 thanks to three home runs and four doubles while registering five stolen bases.
Noah Dickerson - An incoming Trojan set to join the program this fall, Dickerson was a teammate of Rodriguez' in Winter Garden. Dickerson batted .353 for the Squeeze with 24 hits and 13 RBI, including eight doubles and a pair of home runs in 68 at bats.
Canyon McWilliams - Another incoming Trojan that will join the program this fall, McWilliams spent the summer with the Ohio Bison of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. McWilliams finished the season with a .338 average and an impressive .964 OPS, hitting three home runs with four doubles and driving in 19 while stealing 14 bases.
After the shortened 2020 season, head coach
Chris Curry and the rest of the squad is eager to return to Gary Hogan Field and get sights set on the 2021 season. The Trojans will return to Little Rock this week and information on the fall schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
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