{"id":83967,"date":"2025-02-22T21:34:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T03:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/under-the-radar-over-the-plate-freshman-lhp-walker-hooks-is-off-to-a-dominant-start\/"},"modified":"2025-02-22T21:34:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T03:34:10","slug":"under-the-radar-over-the-plate-freshman-lhp-walker-hooks-is-off-to-a-dominant-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/under-the-radar-over-the-plate-freshman-lhp-walker-hooks-is-off-to-a-dominant-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Under the Radar, Over the Plate: Freshman LHP Walker Hooks is off to a dominant start"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freshman left-hander Walker Hooks<\/a><\/strong> is off to a hot start as an Ole Miss Rebel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Hooks was brought in as part of the 2024 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 4 nationally by Perfect Game. He led Brandon (Mississippi) to a 7A state title as a high school senior.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, unlike Cade Townsend, Owen Paino and Hayden Federico, he wasn\u2019t a Perfect Game Top 200 prospect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s sure pitching like it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun to get out there and play every day,\u201d Hooks said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to not let it overtake me and just breath relaxed on the mound. I feel relaxed. The moment has not been too big for me so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hooks has already appeared in three of six games for Ole Miss (4-1) out of the bullpen. He\u2019s given up no runs and just one hit over 4.2 combined innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cStatistically he may have been our best pitcher in the fall,\u201d Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. \u201cHe falls under the radar a bit because he\u2019s not the 95 miles-per-hour guy. He mixes four pitches and is a strike-throwing machine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing left-handed helps. He has a lot of composure and you never know how a freshman will respond against real competition. He makes it looks easy at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hooks was the last pitcher used in the Rebels\u2019 9-4, series-clinching win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.\u00a0<\/h2>\n

He struck out three of the four batters he faced<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hooks could be in for an even more expanded role moving forward, especially if veteran closer Connor Spencer can\u2019t get on track after a bumpy start to the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been throwing fastball, curveball, slider and changeup and everything has been working well so far,\u201d Hooks said. \u201cI\u2019d like to keep that going. I\u2019m happy with the way I\u2019ve been throwing strikes with all my pitches thus far. I like my role in relief. As a freshman, that\u2019s all I can ask for. Coach Joel Mangrum has really helped me a lot. He\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out the latest impressive outing from Hooks in the included highlights from Saturday, as provided by Ole Miss Athletics.<\/p>\n

\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n

The post Under the Radar, Over the Plate: Freshman LHP Walker Hooks is off to a dominant start<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Freshman left-hander Walker Hooks is off to a hot start as an Ole Miss Rebel.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}