The program was cut, and Boise State baseball players scattered. 6 signed with the Hawks
After Boise State cuts its baseball program last July, pitcher Jay Baggs had his pick of college teams to join as a transfer, but he said Arizona State was the obvious choice because being a Sun Devil runs in the family.
Baggs has at least 10 family members through three generations who have graduated from Arizona State, dating back to his great-grandparents and including his father, John, who played baseball for the Sun Devils in the 1990s.
Baggs committed to the Pac-12 program last July and was with the Sun Devils up until about a month ago, when he decided it was time for a change of scenery.
“There were tons of resources, playing in the Pac-12, but at the end of the day I just wasn’t getting the playing time I hoped,” Baggs said. “I missed competing and missed getting innings.”
His first thought was to transfer, so Baggs called former Boise State manager Gary Van Tol to see whether he would reach out to some coaches on his behalf. But the transfer portal is packed and most teams’ rosters are full, Van Tol said, so Baggs probably would have been forced to sit out the season.
Instead, Van Tol — now the manager of the Boise Hawks — offered him an opportunity to start his professional baseball career.
“I asked him what his ultimate goal was, and he said get to the big leagues,” Van Tol said. “I said the big leagues don’t care if you pitched at a Division I school, a junior college or an NAIA school. They don’t care what country you come from or what language you speak. If you’re good enough, they’re going to find you.”
Baggs took about 24 hours to weigh his options before making it official and signing with the Boise Hawks earlier this month.
“I’m only 20 years old, so it’ll be a great experience, playing with a lot of these older guys and learning from them,” Baggs said. “I know (MLB) teams will be looking for guys in this league, so I just have to put up numbers and let the rest take care of itself.”
Baggs is one of six former Boise State players who will suit up for the new-look Hawks this season.
After Major League Baseball decided to reduce its number of minor league teams, the Hawks lost their affiliation last December and opted to join the Pioneer League, which was rebranded as a “partner league.” Teams in the league are independent in the fact that they have the freedom to hire coaches of their choosing and build their own rosters, but MLB will provide some funding for operating expenses and install scouting technology in stadiums.
Baggs, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound native of San Clemente, California, is joined on the roster by former BSU catcher Cory Meyer, catcher/outfielder Myles Harris, and pitchers Mitch Lines, John Boushelle and Matt Gabbert.
“I hadn’t seen some of them since we stopped playing for Boise State,” Baggs said. “It’s cool to be playing with them again, and this is just a great opportunity for all of us.”
Baggs pitched a few innings in one of the Hawks’ exhibition games against Idaho Falls this spring. His fastball has been touching 93 mph, and Van Tol said he could make his first regular-season start as early as this week.
“He’s one of the younger pitchers in this league, and he’s a prospect,” Van Tol said. “He’ll get scouted by big league clubs, and he’ll develop faster because of this opportunity.”
The Hawks’ home opener at Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Wednesday against the Grand Junction Rockies. The teams will play six straight games in Boise, with the series wrapping up on Monday, and Baggs said he’s excited to get another look at the talent in the Pioneer League.
“I expect this league to be really good,” Baggs said. “Because the MLB cut so many rosters, the league is going to be full of talented guys from across the country.”
He doesn’t know Gabbert and Boushelle as well as some of the other former Boise State players because they both signed with the team but had not arrived on campus by the time the program was cut.
Gabbert was an incoming freshman, and Boushelle — who was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015 — expected to join the Broncos as a graduate transfer after his college career already included stops at Kansas State, Cowley College, McNeese State and Arkansas-Little Rock.
Harris was the only former Bronco in the starting lineup Friday in the Hawks’ 8-2 loss in their season opener in Ogden, Utah. He was the team’s designated hitter, batted in the No. 8 spot, and went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Gabbert also saw the first action of his pro career on Friday after he replaced starting pitcher Eddy Reynoso in the sixth inning. He gave up just one hit, one walk and no runs in three innings.
Gabbert, 18, is one of the youngest players in the Pioneer League, Van Tol said — if not the youngest. The Hawks’ 96-game schedule will give him more chances to be noticed than if he transferred to another college team, most of which play about 56 games a year.
“We’re going to take baby steps with him because he’s a puppy,” Van Tol said. “But his learning curve is going to be so much quicker with us than if he was still playing college ball, and he’s still going to be able to go to Boise State.”
Whether they actually took the field at Boise State or not, one thing all the former Broncos have in common is that they’re excited to be back in the dugout with Van Tol.
“I committed to Boise State for a reason, and the opportunity to play for him again is awesome,” Baggs said.
The Hawks announced in January that Van Tol would return for his second stint as the club’s manager. He also ran the dugout when Boise made the Northwest League championship game in 2013.
Van Tol was hired to resurrect Boise State’s, baseball program, which was dormant since 1980, but the Broncos made it through only 14 games in their debut season last spring, when the university eliminated the program, as well as the swim and dive program. The sports were victims of a budget squeeze brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Athletic Director Curt Apsey said at the time that the move would save the athletic department about $2.2 million a year. Van Tol’s contract at Boise State expired on May 1.
“I feel blessed to be able to stay in the community because I wasn’t sure if I was going to go back to the pro game or find another job in college, which would have meant leaving Boise,” Van Tol told the Statesman in April.
This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 3:53 PM.
