Hughes signs with Frontier League’s Evansville Otters
For the first time since 2016, Carson-Newman baseball has a player sign a professional contract to play in the Frontier League. Left-handed pitcher Grif Hughes signed with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League on Wednesday afternoon.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the first time since 2016, Carson-Newman baseball has a player sign a professional contract to play in the Frontier League. Left-handed pitcher Grif Hughes signed with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League on Thursday afternoon, prior to the Frontier League's opening day.
"I am super thankful for the opportunity to continue to play the game that has given so much to me," Hughes said. "I want to thank the coaches and my teammates for pushing me to get better every day to have a chance to fulfill my dream."
The southpaw becomes the 13th player in program history to join a Frontier League team, cracking the Otters' opening day roster.
Hughes earns this opportunity after producing the best season of his career as a senior. He marked career highs in wins (9), innings pitched (58 1/3), strikeouts (71) and in earned run average (3.86). Carson-Newman won 14 of the 20 games Hughes pitched in this season.
The left-handed pitcher was spectacular on multiple occasions that helped result in wins for his team. In his second appearance in conference play this season, Hughes threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts to help blank Newberry and earn his first win of the year. Into the final month of the season, Hughes had a stretch where he pitched 11 consecutive scoreless innings over the span of four appearances. In his final 23 innings of the season, the Knoxville native allowed just four earned runs, walked five and struck out 26. He threw multiple innings of scoreless baseball nine different times this season.
He saved his best peformance for his last appearance on the mound in the postseason. His final career appearance was tremendous. Hughes went a career-long 6 1/3 innings, allowing just four hits and one unearned run while notching a career-high eight strikeouts to help Carson-Newman win its opening round game in the South Atlantic Conference tournament.
Hughes made 63 appearances in four seasons with the Eagles and posted a 15-6 record with three saves. He threw 120 innings and had a 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio. His career ERA is 5.47 with a WHIP of 1.40.
The Evansville Otters finished third in the West Division with a 52-44 regular season record. They were one of six teams that qualified for the postseason and wound up advancing to the championship series before falling to Quebec Capitales 3-2 in a five game series.
Hughes and the Otters begin the season tonight at 6:35 p.m. against the Windy City Thunderbolts. To follow along with Hughes' journey with the Otters, fans can view the action just like Carson-Newman sporting events, on Flo Sports with a subscription.
