Hafley carrying high hopes

Evan Hafley has yet to take an at-bat for the University of Central Arkansas, but coaches across the ASUN are wellaware of his potency from the batter’s box.

Hafley joined the Bears this past summer after four years at Arkansas Tech and was named to the ASUN’s preseason all- conference team at designated hitter on Feb. 2, two weeks before his debut.

When Hafley graduated from Arkansas Tech last May, he had his sights on continuing his college career. When he started looking at the options available, the chance to play in Conway was a perfect marriage for him and the Bears.

Hafley is working towards his master’s in business administration at UCA and getting an opportunity to play Division I baseball. For UCA, Hafley fills a much-need hole in the heart of its batting order after losing Hunter Hicks and Connor Emmet.

“The deeper we got into the [recruiting] process, we realized this would be a really good fit,” UCA Coach Nick Harlan said. “And we needed a hitter that we believe could come in and compete to fill a role for us.”

Another key to not only Hafley’s recruitment this past summer, but his overall development as a hitter, is UCA hitting coach Curtis Kellogg. Kellogg is in his second year on the Bears’ staff. Prior to UCA, he was at Arkansas Tech in the same capacity for two seasons.

“I graduated and did my time [at Arkansas Tech], and just wanted to play at a higher level,” Hafley said. “They made it super easy on me. I came up in around June, we toured the campus, talked about the values and morals of the program. It just really all worked out; they had my position, and gave me a chance to compete for a job. That’s really all I wanted.”

Hafley slashed .328/.405/.538 during his time at Arkansas Tech, totalling 157 hits, 25 home runs, 23 doubles and 105 RBI.

Hafley earning all-conference honors before playing a game for UCA, or in Division I for that matter, may have come as a surprise to some. But that is exactly the kind of player Harlan thought he was getting when he brought Hafley in.

“I don’t think it was surprising,” Harlan said. “I think he’s built a resume, and I think there’s really good players at the Division II level. I think his history speaks for itself. I was just happy for him, and happy for our program. … He’s demonstrated that he’s a mature player. I think he has a mature mindset. And so that’s one of the reasons why he’s been able to sustain some success is because he’s focused on the task at hand.”

For UCA, that task will rely on production from the middle of its lineup — and that’s where Hafley comes in. Hicks and Emmet accounted for over half of UCA’s home runs a year ago and 39% of its extra-base hits.

He was primarily a designated hitter during his time at Arkansas Tech and will likely fill the same role at UCA. After primarily playing third base at Peaster (Texas) High School, Hafley said it took time to adjust to not playing the field all too often since then.

“I struggled my freshman year at Tech just because you have to be able to deal with failure on a different level,” Hafley said. “You strike out, you get out, you get to sit in the dugout for two innings until you get another chance. We talk about process all the time. It’s a process to DH.”

“Baseball lends itself to time. And that’s why it’s such a mental sport, because there’s time between pitches, time between innings,” Harlan said. “And so the ones that are very successful are the ones that can really manage themselves from one competitive moment to another, and he does that really well.”