History was made during the summer, as former Ashland Eagle Hunter Allen was drafted to Major League Baseball. On July 14th, Allen was selected in the seventh round with the 214th overall pick by the Baltimore Orioles. Allen is the highest Eagle selected in the draft since 1974, when Randy Fierbaugh was picked 105th overall.
With Ashland last season, Allen finished at 7-1 with a 3.96 earned-run average, only allowing opponents to hit .213. With his strong finish to the season, Allen was named second-team All-Midwest Region and first-team All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference. He helped lead the Eagles to appearances in both the Great Midwest and Midwest Regional tournaments.
It was not an easy road for Hunter Allen as he started his college career with Owens Community College, where he spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons. “Those two years really helped extend my career,” Allen told The Collegian, “I had a lot of success and development throughout my time there.” After the 2023 season, Allen accepted an offer from Ashland University to join the Eagles.
The last two years at AU were instrumental for Allen’s improvement. Getting through every moment, both good and bad, allowed him to get to this point. “Not all days are going to be perfect,” Allen said, “Making sure I was able to bounce back was key to my success.” There was a lot of hard work that went into Allen’s game, and that stood out to John Schaly, Allen’s head coach at Ashland. “He was an incredible worker, a terrific leader for our team, and he made himself into a really good pitcher,” said Schaly.
There were a lot of great moments with the Eagles for Allen, but nothing topped last spring, when the team made a trip down to Florida for a couple of weeks. “Getting to live in the houses with the guys for a week, playing a bunch of different teams, and experiencing the different [weather] conditions was awesome.”
As for Allen’s pro career so far, he hasn’t gotten the chance to play for the Orioles yet, but he has taken advantage of his resources. “Working in a professional environment with all the new guys, big leaguers, and the staff has been a great experience so far.” Most recently, Allen was activated in early August by the Florida Complex League (FCL) Orioles, the minor league affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.
