Small school kid Hunter Hill to play baseball at CBC
By his own admission, Hunter Hill has been a small school kid all his life and says he likes the small school feel. He says it keeps him from getting lost in the shuffle.
Hill began his schooling and athletics at Calvary Christian School, eventually making the move to Palestine-Wheatley to begin his seventh-grade year.
When Central Baptist College showed interest and came calling with a baseball scholarship offer, Hill readily accepted the opportunity to play baseball for the CBC Mustangs as a pitcher/third baseman.
"At least that's the last comments I heard from the CBC coach," Hill added. "That is excellent for me. I've always said I don't just want to be a pitcher; I want to be able to play a position in the field and hit as well."
He officially signed with CBC last Friday during a small signing ceremony held at the PWHS cafeteria.
Hill is the latest P-W athlete to sign with Central Baptist College, which has kept its athletic scholarship pipeline open through the St. Francis County area for several previous seasons.
At P-W, Hill, basically a onesport athlete, played baseball for three different head coaches, Andrew Beck during Hill's freshman and sophomore season's, Carey Knowlton during Hill's junior year and finally this just completed season for first year coach Paxton Crawford.
"Hunter is very coachable and he is just a good kid," Knowlton said. "He works hard and is very baseball knowable able. I believe he will be very good at the next level. He has a lot of grit and that will help. He has always tried to do the right things in the game of baseball."
"Hunter Hill is on his way to compete against bigger and faster ball players," Crawford, a former MLB pitcher said. "He will have to work hard, but I think he has the ability to play well."
Part of Hill's decision to choose Central Baptist was based on being able to stay somewhere close to home, but still be able to play baseball.
"I really believe for me it was the best decision I could make," Hill said. "Everything just felt right when I made my official visit, the players, the coaches the campus and especially the small school feel and I wanted to keep that feeling."
"When talking about Hunter Hill, the first thing that comes to my mind about him is how much he loves the game of baseball. The kid eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball. Been doing it all his life," Beck said via email. "He doesn’t just love it, he’s also very talented. When I was at PW, he was an underclassman and we had a bunch of good junior and senior players. Freshmen had to be real good to play and Hunter was that. He played very meaningful innings for me as an underclassmen. CBC is getting one heck of a baseball player, but an even better person. He’s going to work his butt off and he’s going to have to if he wants to play. I’ll never doubt him when it comes to baseball. Looking forward to him going to college in my hometown and linking back up with Austin Teal. Huge congrats to Hunter on signing with CBC. Now he just needs to go compete and be great."
Hill follows Jonathan Estes and Austin Teal, both PalestineWheatley graduates and both Central Baptist College baseball signees over the past few seasons.
"All my friends tell me I have some big shoes to fill at CBC," Hill laughed.
Both of Hill's parents Duke and Dashaune Hill, are solidly behind their son's decision.
"My dad knows the president of the school and my mom has relatives on the CBC school board," Hill added. "And we have friends in Conway so I'm sure my mom and dad are okay with my decision."
As for Hill's summer plans, he will be involved with, what else but baseball.
He will be playing for the Arkansas Express showcase team out of Fayetteville, a team he has been with for the past three years. The team's summer schedule begins Memorial Day weekend.
Aside from playing baseball, Hill is looking forward to spending time with his niece, Kamryn (5) and his sister Claire (Hill) Williams, a Calvary graduate.
Then there is the issue of Hill's baseball jersey which reached deep into his family roots.
During Hill's Calvary years, Hill always wore No. 11 as did his sister.
"When I transferred to Palestine-Wheatley, Jacob Sweeney had the 11 jersey during my freshman season and Cole Fowler wore 11 during my sophomore year," Hill noted. "And I just kind of stuck with No.
7. My dad wore 11 and I wanted to continue that. There is no particular or hidden meaning with 11, it's just a number."
With the Showcase team, Hill said the roster is pitching strong, which means he doesn't go to the mound that often.
"I play third base a little, sometimes some middle infield and every now and then I will play the outfield," Hill added. "I'm not real fast and I can only do myself, so I have to take that into consideration."
••••• Looking to end the regular season on a high note, Central Baptist College baseball wrapped up their series with the Cougars of Columbia College last Saturday at Battle High School. CBC (25-26, 10-11 AMC) took an early lead and never relinquished it, getting clutch hitting late to win 9-7 over CC (35-10, 15-6 AMC).