Hardy Dougan offers hitters a different look altogether now as a senior, compared to his freshman season.
The Nixa left-handed pitcher has put on plenty of muscle, added more than 20 mph to his velocity and this season, for the first time, is sporting glasses.
Dougan’s switch from contacts to glasses had nothing to do with his struggles to throw strikes at times last season. But coach Logan Hughes reports he has been in the strike zone plenty in pre-season practices.
“I wore contacts last year, but they would fall out all the time because of the wind,” Dougan said. “I can see a lot better with glasses and they stay on pretty good.”
Dougan showed signs of dominance as a junior. His stat line included a 3-1 W-L record, 3.65 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 22 walks, 17 hits over 23 innings pitched.
Obviously, his 1.70 WHIP could have been much lower if he didn’t average nearly a walk an inning.
Minimizing walks is a top priority this season.
“I’ve been working on my mechanics to throw more strikes and get the walks down,” Dougan said.
“He's a guy we expect to throw a lot for us and have a big impact on the mound,” Hughes said. “He's showing the ability to throw three pitches for strikes. Hardy’s got to be okay with pitching a couple mph slower sometimes. When he tries to throw too hard, he rushes and overthrows. That's when he's inconsistent with his delivery and it's not repeatable. Once he figures out, 'Hey, I’m getting outs at 80-83 and I don't have to throw 86,’ he's going to see a lot more consistency in the strike zone.”
Dougan has topped out at 87 mph, that’s quite a change from his fast ball as a freshman.
“I came into high school throwing 68,” he said.
Dougan has wisely built arm strength by being attentive to strengthening his legs.
“I stay in the weight room constantly and try to get better every day,” he said. “I do deadlifts, reverse lunges and squats to get the legs stronger and make my mechanics better. You always want to build from the ground up. A strong base makes things work.”
Dougan’s work ethic has quickly earned him Hughes’ respect.
“He puts in a lot of time on arm care and his arm-strengthening program,” Hughes said. “He has completely changed his body. I don't think there's a guy on this team or maybe in the whole area who works any harder than Hardy.”
