Vol.25, No. 01	Sept. 3, 1999

Fastballer Hawkeye Wayne Drafted by Mariners

Last month, H. Hamilton "Hawkeye" Wayne, CC'99, was picked in the 11th round of the Major League Draft by the Seattle Mariners, the earliest selection ever of a Columbia baseball player. Former major league pitcher Frank Seminara, CC'89, was drafted in the 13th round by the New York Yankees.

Wayne, who lives in Honolulu, came to Columbia as a pitcher/outfielder, but decided to concentrate on the outfield.

"When Hawk came here, we thought we'd use him more as a pitcher than an outfielder," said Paul Fernandes, who was the coach at the time, "but he came to me and said it was hard doing both. He chose to concentrate on the outfield, because he wanted to play every day."

Wayne became a fixture in right field for Columbia. A good all-around player—he batted .274 with 12 stolen bases this spring—he soon acquired a reputation for his arm.

Prior to the 1999 season, Wayne informed Columbia's new head coach, Mikio Aoki, that he was available to pitch if necessary. Aoki wasted little time in taking him up on the offer, inserting him in relief in the season's first game, against William Paterson in Florida.

With major league scouts in attendance, Wayne pitched an inning of relief to save the Lions' 1-0 victory, striking out two of the three men he faced with a blazing fastball that lit up the scouts' radar guns.

Used early as a short-term reliever—he saved a win with one inning of relief against the University of Pennsylvania, and struck out three in a one-inning stint against Stony Brook— Wayne broke into the starting rotation late in the season. He struck out eight in six innings in a 3-2 loss to Yale, four in two innings against Cornell, and six in six innings at Princeton.

Wayne saved his best for his last game, a 4-0 shutout of C.W. Post in which he struck out 11 and walked only two in seven innings. He notched a team-leading 35 strikeouts (in 29 innings), finishing with a 1-5 record and 5.90 earned run average.

"Hawkeye threw 93-94 mph fairly consistently," Aoki said. "Against Princeton, he threw not one pitch under 88."

As news of his consistent 90-plus mph fastball spread, it became apparent that he would be drafted. Besides Seminara, other recent Lion draftees are Garrett Neubart, CC'95, taken in the 17th round by Colorado in 1995; Chris Kotes, CC'91, picked in the 20th by Toronto in 1990, and ex-major leaguer Gene Larkin, CC'84, selected in the 21st by Minnesota in 1984.

Hawkeye signed a contract quickly, and was sent to the Everett Aqua Sox in Everett, Wash., a "short-season" Class A minor league.

"I'm really happy for Hawkeye," Aoki said. "It's a boost for the program, too. When you talk to high school kids about the Ivy League, they think coming here means kissing off pro baseball. I can tell them about Hawkeye."