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Making adjustments is nothing new for Catfish outfielder Hanna II
You'll have to forgive Cape Catfish left fielder Ellison Hanna II if he isn't intimidated by having to make an adjustment to Prospect League pitching this summer.
After all, this is a guy who made a seismic adjustment in his life as a then-17-year-old, so not hitting breaking balls aren't going to be something he can't overcome.
Hanna II helped the Catfish overcome a 4-0 first-inning deficit Tuesday for a 7-5 victory over Quincy in front of 823 fans at Capaha Field.
"Ellison comes out and he is an aggressive guy," Catfish manager Steve Larkin said. "He's a big, strong guy and can hit the ball with a little bit of power. A lot of power."
The Indiana State University senior has followed a unique journey to Cape Girardeau, but his maturity has helped him off the diamond as much as it has on it.
After growing up in Nassau, Bahamas, he graduated from high school at 17 years of age and made the daunting trek to Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
"It was a culture shock," Hanna II explained. "I had never seen snow a day in my life."
The weather was the least of his concerns at that point in his life.
Not only did Hanna II have to adjust to college academically and athletically, but he also had to manage his life like very few 17-year-olds anywhere.
At Kirkwood, the baseball players lived in apartments, not student housing, so paying bills, shopping for groceries, managing money, and doing laundry was all on him.
"It was different," Hanna II said. "Really different. I had to become a grown up really quickly."
Hanna II also had to adjust to the food.
After spending his life eating fresh seafood from the Atlantic Ocean, the best he could hope for in Iowa was some tilapia from WalMart.
"As a 17-year-old kid," Hanna II said, "the first time moving out of my parents' house, being in a foreign land, it was really different."
His comfort level grew significantly after signing with Indiana State.
The size of Terre Haute appealed to him after living in the densely populated (266,000 people) city of Nassau. He also liked the coaches, who made him feel more at home.
Now his comfort level needs to spread to the baseball diamond.
The Sycamores had a senior-laden roster this spring and finished 43-18, while Hanna II played sparingly (16 games and eight starts). He is using this summer to work on his game both offensively and defensively.
"What people don't realize is that he can run," Larkin said. "So he is going to be a threat on the base paths."
Now all Hanna II needs to do is GET on base to be that threat.
Hannah struck out 14 times this past spring in 29 at-bats for Indiana State and that remains a focus this summer.
"I understand that I do have a lot of power," Hanna II said, "but I also need to put the ball in play more and strikeout less."
Tuesday was a good example of that.
Hanna II is hitting .304 on the season and had one hit against Quincy, but he also struck out three times.
Through six games, Hanna II has struck out 11 times in 23 at-bats.
"It is putting a good swing on strikes," Larkin said of his instruction to Hanna II. "You don't want to emphasize swinging at bad pitches. We want to emphasize 'You see a strike, and you are jumping on that strike.'"
Hanna's strength (he is 6-foot-2, 230 pounds) has shown, as he has connected for a double, a triple and three home runs in six games, so Larkin doesn't want to curb his aggressiveness to the point that he loses that power.
"You are going to be aggressive," Larkin said. "You are going to swing at pitches out of the zone. You are going to swing at off-speed pitches. But if you get the good fastball or hanging curve in the zone, I'm talking about jumping on it."
A number of Catfish players did that Tuesday.
Southeast Missouri State catcher Andrew Keck launched a bomb as one of his two hits, while Andrew Stone, Ryan Howe, and Dalton Doyle also had a couple of hits each.
Cape starter Bay Witcher got off to a poor start on the mound and allowed four runs on four hits in the opening inning. However, he settled down over the final 20 batters that he faced and only allowed one hit and one run the remainder of his outing.
Eastern Illinois pitcher Jack Wolfe (1-0) earned his first victory, as he worked three innings and didn't allow a hit while walking two and striking out two.
The Catfish (8-3) have now won six of their past seven games and are in first place in the West Division.
Cape is 2 ½ games on top of both DuPage and Normal.
Up next
DuPage at Cape today at 6:32 p.m