PIEDMONT – Bishop O’Dowd shortstop Rashad Hayes Jr. makes fielding look easy, plucking ground balls from the dirt and whipping a pinpoint throw to second or first base for an out.
In a 9-5 victory on Wednesday over Piedmont, he threw out three runners and caught two pop-ups for the Oakland private school.
That defensive skillset is coveted by MLB and top college teams. Hayes is rated by multiple sites among the Top 100 amateur prospects in the class of 2025. Baseball America recently listed him as the second-best defensive infielder in his class.
“Before the play happens, I already know where I’m going with the ball and what I want to do with it,” said Hayes, a Stanford commit. “So when the ball is hit, I’m just playing loose and allowing my body to react to what’s happening.”
The top-notch glovework shown against Piedmont in the West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division game was honed by hours of practice and late-night drills with his father, Rashad Sr.
Hayes was not the most talented player growing up, remembering a Little League game where he did not get off the bench.
The kid was crushed.
“The joy that he normally had was gone when that happened,” said Hayes Sr., whose son started playing T-ball at two years old.
Instead of pouting, he told his dad he wanted to get better. And that’s exactly what Hayes did, sending him on the path to being one of the best shortstops in all of high school baseball.
The defense in the hole was eye-catching on Wednesday, but it was his developing skills with the bat that was perhaps most intriguing.
He sent a hard-hit single through a gap to drive in a teammate during the sixth inning and also showed patience, walking once and getting hit by a pitch to reach base three times.
The successful day at the plate was a welcome sight for the .224 hitter who is still trying to figure out that part of the game. He models his play after MLB stars CJ Abrams and Tim Anderson.
“He has all the talent and all the tools,” O’Dowd coach Brian Mouton said. “It’s just about putting it together, because he has everything you need from a shortstop.”
Hayes wasn’t the only reason the Dragons won on Wednesday.
Vander Cole had two RBIs and Ben Skiles, Dimitri Williams and Enrique Sotelo each contributed one RBI. Starting pitcher Nikolas Haas had a no-hitter through five innings and ended the day with six strikeouts and just three hits allowed.
He appreciated Hayes’ defensive skills.
“When you have a guy like that, you know that any ground ball to the shortstop is going to be an out,” Haas said. “As a pitcher, you gotta love that.”
Piedmont made things interesting in the final inning, rallying for four runs to cut the deficit in half. Diego Delventhal was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and Will Parker and Jordan Vo each had one RBI.
Even though the comeback attempt fell short, Piedmont coach Eric Olson couldn’t help but be impressed by his team’s “moxie.”
“I was proud of the way they came out and had some quality at-bats and some hits there at the end,” Olson said. “That’s something to build on for sure.”
Olson, who spent time in the New York Yankees farm system in 2000, sees oodles of potential in Hayes.
“The biggest thing is that his best baseball is still in front of him,” Olson said. “The sky’s the limit for him.”
Only 16, the 6-foot-1 Hayes still has plenty of time to develop into a strong hitter while refining the other aspects of his game. It’s not MLB-or-bust either for Hayes once he graduates in 2025.
“To be able to go to Stanford is huge, because we really value education and what that university has to offer,” Hayes Sr. said.
Even though he’s thrilled to have an offer from one of the West Coast’s premier baseball programs, getting a shot at the pro level out of high school is something the younger Hayes aspires to as well.
“After the season we’ve got summer ball, and that’s where I want to go out to the big events and prove who I am and why I should be drafted high,” Hayes said. “But I also try not to think about it too much … I just thank God every day for having this opportunity.”
