Kentucky left-handed pitcher Mason Hazelwood is the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League’s Pitcher of the Year, the summer league announced Wednesday. He had previously been selected First-Team All-PGCBL.
Hazelwood, a rising sophomore, was brilliant in 11 appearances for the Elmira Pioneers. He started eight games and posted a 5-1 record with a league-record 84 strikeouts in just 50.0 innings. His five wins also tied for the most in the league this summer.
The 6-foot-5 southpaw from Salvisa, Kentucky, dominated from beginning to end, holding opponents to two or fewer earned runs in 10 of 11 appearances and a scant .189 batting average. Playing alongside Kentucky teammates Tanner Johnson and Jimmy Ramsey, Hazelwood earned a trip to the PGCBL All-Star Game, where he struck out all three batters he faced. In a start just days after that game he struck out 16 in 7.0 innings against eventual league champion Jamestown Jammers.
As a freshman with the Wildcats, Hazelwood saw his role increase as the season went along and he became an indispensable piece of the bullpen. He did not allow a run in five of his last seven outings and delivered his signature moment against Mississippi State on May 12 in a game the Cats would eventually win, striking out a career-high three and allowing just one hit and no runs in 3.1 innings. He followed that outing up with 2.0 scoreless innings against Murray State on May 15 for his first career win.
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