Fall World Series Rosters, Schedule Announced
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky baseball team will split into two squads and compete in the annual Fall World Series, set for Friday, Saturday at Sunday at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The first scrimmage is set for Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET, resuming at noon on Saturday and concluding at 1 p.m. on Sunday at The Cliff.
The Black team will be led by seniors Zach Arnold, Dustin Beggs and Kyle Cody, with Beggs and Cody set to anchor the rotation and Arnold a stalwart behind the dish. The pitching staff will also including freshmen righties Sean Hjelle – a 6-foot-11 native of White Bear Lake, Minn. – Austin Keen (Smithton, Ill.) and Jeremy Orbik (Homewood, Ill.). Sophomore Zach Pop and senior Bo Wilson will be joined on the Black pitching staff by freshmen lefties Jake Hamilton (Racoon, Ky.), Josh Smith (Saline, Mich.) and Daniel Tillo (Sioux City, Iowa). Smith will also provide left-handed hitting at an outfield or first base post, with Black also boosted with sophomore southpaw Brad Schaenzer and infielder Trey Miller, a transfer from Michigan.
Positionally, Black will be paced by junior third baseman JaVon Shelby, coming off an All-Southeastern Conference season. Switch-hitting freshman infielder Zeke Lewis (Atlanta, Ga.) joins fellow infielders Riley Mahan and Trey Miller. Junior college first baseman Gunnar McNeill and outfielder Zach Reks (Orland, Ill.) – a transfer from the Air Force Academy – will round out the Black team lineup.
Blue will be guided by right-handed ace Zack Brown, with Dylan Dwyer, Zach Logue, Logan Salow, Zach Strecker and Robert Zeigler also on the staff. Positionally, Evan White is joined by Storm Wilson, Connor Heady, Dorian Hairston, Tyler Marshall and Marshall Gei. Freshmen lefties Dima Ballard (Lexington, Ky.) and Jared Proctor (Bardstown, Ky.), and freshmen righties Justin Lewis (Suwanee, Ga.) and Keegan McHood (Argenta, Ill.) round out the pitching staff. Newcomer position players Luke Becker (Fairmont, Minn.) – a switch-hitting infielder – catcher Kole Cottam (Knoxville, Tenn.) and North Carolina transfer Joe Dudek (Wall Township, N.J.) give the lineup depth.
On the Black team coaching staff is director of operations Jack Hoehl and head trainer Sean Stryker, in addition to managers Charlie Haunert, Zach Martin and Ben Evans. Blue will be assisted on the coaching staff by trainer Ian Crossett, along with Reece Wallace, Alex Guay, Sean Mann and David Aulick.
The three-game series will consist of seven-inning games and potential extra innings will be determined using the international tie-breaker rule. Blue will serve as home for game one, black for game two, and the home team for the finale will be determined by the leader in run differential in the first two games.
