The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Ellison Hanna II is preparing for a 2022 season where he will serve in multiple roles - a graduate student, assistant coach and his first season of professional baseball.

Hanna officially signed with the Missoula PaddleHeads of the Pioneer League and will join the league’s defending champions when they begin their title defence in May.

The Missoula, Montana based franchise finished last season 65-31 and defeated the Boise Hawks to win the title last September. The championship marked the Paddleheads’ first since their rebranding and first Pioneer League title for the franchise since 2015 when they were the Missoula Osprey.

The Pioneer League is an MLB Partner League. As the Ospreys, the franchise was an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1996-2020. Both Jasrado Chisholm Jr and Kristian Robinson spent their respective rookie seasons with the Ospreys.

Following the restructure of Minor League Baseball out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the league was converted from an MLB-affiliated Rookie Advanced league to an independent league and granted status as an MLB Partner League.

Hanna was one of three prospects chosen by the Paddleheads following last September’s inaugural Pioneer League tryouts.

In 2021, Hanna also made the transition from the field to the sidelines at the collegiate coaching ranks when he was named an assistant coach for the Hood College Blazers baseball programme. The Blazers compete in the Middle Atlantic Conference in NCAA Division III. Hood finished last season 11-21 and was eliminated in the MAC Commonwealth quarterfinal series. Hanna concluded his play in 2021 by winning a Prospect League Championship with the Cape Catfish.

He was also named a West Conference All-Star. The Prospect League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of college players throughout the United States and Canada.

Hanna, a 22-year-old outfielder, recently completed his collegiate career with the Indiana State Sycamores in the NCAA Tournament’s Nashville Regional. He hit .429 and scored five runs in the Sycamores’ three tournament games.

In 26 games of his senior season, Hanna hit .337 with 30 hits, 20 RBI, 28 runs, five home runs, seven doubles, and two triples.

The Sycamores finished the season 31-21 and were runners-up in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

Hanna was selected to the MVC Baseball All- Tournament team. The redshirt senior outfielder finished the tournament hitting .278 (5-18), with five runs, nine RBI and three home-runs.

A former student at St Augustine’s College, Hanna began his collegiate career with two seasons at Kirkwood Community College. He finished the 2018 season with a .318 batting average, 15 doubles, 10 home runs and a pair of triples for a .573 slugging percentage, 55 RBIs and scored 45 runs and 12 stolen bases in 59 games.

He transferred to the Division I level at Indiana State, and in his first season with the programme, played in 16 games while making eight starts.

The following season was cut short due to COVID- 19, but in nine games he hit .231 with six hits, one double and a triple, scored three runs and drove in one run.