Hooper excels for Milgram Mustangs, East Central baseball programs

by Michael Smith
 
Grain Valley graduate Nick Hooper doesn’t tend to show much emotion when he’s on the baseball diamond.
 
He doesn’t seem to get angry, sad or overly emotional as he has a calm, and mild-mannered demeanor whether he’s at the plate hitting, at first base in the field or occasionally on the mound as a pitcher.
 
“His approach is really calm,” said Milgram Mustangs manager Jackson Williams. “He’s kind of hard to read in the box. He’s perfectly calm. He’s in attack mode. As a coach, I value that.”
 
Hooper played baseball at Grain Valley High school and has moved on to play for East Central College in Union, Mo. and for the Milgram Mustangs of the Ban Johnson collegiate summer baseball league.
 
His mild mannered and calm demeanor has helped him find success both on his college and summer league teams as he’s excelled as both a hitter and a first baseman.
 
He earned second-team, All-16 Region honors and earned a spot on the region’s all-defensive team at East Central College. Last spring, he hit .319 with a .897 on-base-plus slugging percentage. Hooper added one home run, 22 runs-batted in and scored 33 runs as his team went on to win the Region 16 Tournament.
 
For the Mustangs .273 and had a .859 OPS with two home runs, 16 RBIs and 12 runs scored in just 55 at bats. He helped his summer league team reach the semifinals in the Ban Johnson postseason tournament.
 
For Hooper, it was all about having the right mindset, which has led to his success at the collegiate level.
 
“I am just trying to make sure I stay consistent and not fall into a slump,” Hooper said. “A lot of kids have jobs and it gets tiring to do that and come out here and play. You just have to stay consistent and stick with your approach and get lackadaisical. You just have to stay focused and locked in.”
 
Added Williams: “He’s super chill. We got two like him on this team. He’s a contact hitter. His approach is what helps his mechanics out. But I think his bat path with his pitch recognition is on point.”
 
At the next level, Hooper said the biggest adjustment has been anticipating off speed pitches no matter what the ball and strikes count is. At the high school level, when he had a favorable account at the dish, he could often sit on a fastball. In college, that’s not the case.
 
“Just because you are in a 2-0 count, doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to get a fastball,” Hooper said. “You have to learn to deal with that. That’s the biggest thing for me is getting those off speeds in plus counts like that. I have gotten better at doing that since high school.”
 
Hooper transferred from Iowa Western Community College to East Central College as a freshman and ended up converting from a third baseman to playing first for the Falcons. It’s been a welcome change for Hooper, who earned all-defensive honors at the position.
 
“I have had to put on some size and muscle to play first base and had to get a first baseman’s glove,” Hooper said. “I like playing first a lot better because it’s less stressful. Now I just have to catch rockets every once in a while instead of all the time.”
 
Even though he’s earned some awards and honors with the Falcons, it’s not something he aims for. He likes to focus on maintaining his calm and steady demeanor on the field and staying consistent.
 
That is one of the reasons he was recruited to play for the Missouri S&T team by coach Todd DeGraffenried. Once he received the offer to play for the Miners, Hooper jumped on it.
 
“S&T is a really good school and fits with my degree,” Hooper said. “It’s relatively close to home, so I figured I would take it while it was there. I am going to try my hardest to be an every day player.”
 
Playing for the Miners may also give him the opportunity to play against former Grain Valley teammate Avery Garmon, who plays for Rockhurst University. Since both of their college teams are in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, they will have a chance to face off against each other in the spring of 2025.
 
“He’s been giving me a lot of crap about that,” Hooper said of Garmon. “We might send some texts and talk some crap before the games. I am sure he will be blowing up my phone about some stuff and I will be brushing it off.”

Grain Valley graduate Nick Hooper excelled for the East Central College baseball team in Union, Mo. He earned All-Region 16, second-team honors and was named to the all-defensive team for his freshman season in the spring of 2024. Photo credit: Michael Smith