Pipeline leads to Evansville

Nobody has ever doubted Adam Heffron?s ability, but even he wasn?t shocked when he was twice passed over in the Major League draft.

“It didn?t surprise me that nothing happened, because that?s the way it goes,” said Heffron, a Hammond High product who was a three-time All-CAA second team outfielder at Towson University.

“I was always the fourth-best outfielder in the league,” Heffron said with a laugh. “It was disappointing to an extent.”

That distinction only pushed him to try harder. That extra drive, however, may have caused him to put too much pressure on himself.

“He?s a great player,” said former Towson teammate Casper Wells, now in the Detroit Tigers? farm system. “He has the drive, and out of anyone I saw, he was so determined to do well, that sometimes it was a disadvantage to him. He pressed to do so well.”

Passed over after hitting .309 with ten home runs and 50 runs batted in as a junior, he was discouraged, but did not let it affect him.

“This year I kind of blocked it all out,” Heffron said. “I didn?t pay attention at all.”

In fact, he played golf, and avoided the draft all together.

Heffron recently signed a contract with the independent Frontier League Evansville (Ind.) Otters. He joins fellow Towson product Brian McKenna, who had a hand in bringing his college teammate to town.

“I know nothing had happened with the draft, so I just called him up to see if he was interested in playing,” said McKenna, who learned of Evansville from former Towson pitcher Bryan Simmering.

After wrapping up his senior campaign with Towson, during which he hit .350 and ended the year on a 13-game hitting streak, Heffron did not pick up a baseball until his tryout with Evansville.

Heffron wasn?t completely sold on the thought.

“I thought it was kind of a dead end,” he said. “But I talked to McKenna and we?ve had two guys get picked up in the past week since I?ve been here.”

After staying in a hotel for a few days, Heffron is living with a host family in Evansville, and is adjusting to six-day road trips, which he never dealt with in college.

“It feels like we?re never going to be home again,” Heffron said, noting that his dad is coming to visit soon.

Evansville?s Bosse Field is amongst the biggest ballparks in the league, and hosted the Frontier League All-Star game this past week. Aside from Heffron and McKenna, the Otters roster also has room for Maryland native Mike Spry, an assistant coach at Washington College.

Heffron may be getting more comfortable, but he?s still adjusting to being a virtual unknown after leaving his comfort zone at Towson.

“I?m that kid with the zero batting average and I get three fastballs in a row which I haven?t seen since my freshman year,” Heffron said.

McKenna, then a junior, remembers Heffron?s freshman season.

“I could see early on, especially as a freshman, that he was a left-handed hitter with a nice swing,” McKenna said, adding that Heffron has gotten stronger since. “He contributed right away, on a good team, as a freshman in college.”

Two weeks after signing his first pro contract, Heffron is still adjusting to life in baseball. But he has found a home, at least temporarily, and from there, he will adjust.

“It?s different than what I thought,” Heffron admitted. “But at the same time I?m glad I came out here.”