Aggie baseball may be in the offseason, however, two players — G.R. Hinsley, senior industrial distribution major, and Logan Nottebrok, senior university studies major — are spending their summer hitting homeruns and catching fly balls for Bryan-College Station’s minor league team, the Brazos Valley Bombers.
Curt Dixon, head coach for the Bombers, said that playing in a summer league is helpful for college baseball players who are hoping to play professional baseball. It gives them the opportunity to be seen by scouts, Dixon said.
Hinsley played with the Bombers last summer, where he received several accolades including his selection to the first team All-TCl, breaking the TCl RBI and win records and setting a new total bases record with the Bombers.
Hinsley said his main focus in playing for the Bombers is to continue his growth as a baseball player and contribute to a team effort.
“My stats as a player don’t really affect me as long as we’re winning games,” Hinsely said. “The only goal I would have to set would be to win another TCL championship.”
Nottebrok, who just recovered from a broken finger, is getting back into the grind of another baseball season, but said he hopes to learn what he can while playing with the Bombers this summer.
“I want to improve on a lot of stuff, just overall average, batting and plate discipline and choosing which pitches to and not to swing at,” Nottebrok said. “Making sure when I commit to swing, that I take my best swing each time and try to get the most out of every at-bat. So when I come back next year for the Aggies during the fall, I’ll have my full potential and hopefully get another chance to play again.”
Dixon said that Nottebrok was talented and has made an powerful first impression with the way he played at Wednesday’s game against Victoria — Nottebrok’s first game back from being injured.
“We’re getting ready to load the bus and Logan calls me from the doctors and says that he’s cleared,” Dixon said. “I got him activated for Wednesday and what a first impression he put on. He went 3-4 with two homeruns, our first two homeruns of the year. He was a difference maker in a big game against Victoria.”
Both Hinsley and Nottebrok took to the game of baseball at an early age.
Hinsley began playing t-ball at age 6 and later went on to be coached by his father.
“I remember my dad taking me out for practice after school and putting baseball pants on for the first time,” Hinsley said. “My dad didn’t push me into baseball, he wanted me to try out a lot of sports but I fell in love with baseball from the start.”
Dixon said that Hinsley stood out every time they played and that it was an easy decision to try and get him to play for the Bombers.
“The thing I liked about G.R. from when I first saw him is he can flat out hit,” Dixon said. “He hits early in the count, he hits behind the count and he hits when he’s in the count. It doesn’t matter and that’s what it shows with his RBI totals and why he’s such a good run producer. I would say that [G.R.] is the best all around first baseman that I’ve coached. The way he hits and plays defensively makes it a no-brainer for me.”
Nottebrok picked up a bat and glove when he was 8 and stuck with the game. Once college came around, Nottebrok took the opportunity to play with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before moving to Temple College for his sophomore season.
“You start doing better as you grow up and you get the feeling that everyday you’re getting better and better,” Nottebrok said. “You realize that you can finally play at the next level and then you get here and notice that you are good enough and you just build confidence as you get older.”