By KEVIN WEAKS
Special to pressbox1.com

UNION CITY, Tenn. - Drew Hayes is ready to take the next step. What direction that step will be, right now, is still anybody’s guess.

The Vanderbilt junior and former McKenzie High School standout will likely be picked in the Major League Baseball draft, which is scheduled for today and Wednesday. The first three rounds are today with the remaining rounds the following day.

A 29th round pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks following his senior year in high school, Hayes is expected to be a second day pick this time around as well. “You can’t ever tell,” Hayes said about the draft in an interview with pressbox1.com on Monday afternoon. “It’s kind of a kind of crap shoot. However it works out is how it works out. Dad (Glenn Hayes) and I have talked about it. You can’t worry about that stuff. You just have to go out and play. If you’re good enough, they’ll find you.”

Right now, though, he’s just happy playing baseball and has an appointment to play in the prestigious Cape Cod League, a summer collegiate wood bat league.

“It’s an opportunity that not a lot of guys get,” Hayes said. “It’s a great league and a beautiful area. Some of my friends from school are going up there to play. Everybody’s going to say their league is pretty good, but (Cape Cod) always has some really good players, puts out good talent and has great competition, so I’m excited about it.”

On his way there, Hayes has stopped in Union City and will make a couple of starts for the Greyhounds of the KIT (Kitty) League of the college wood bat circuit.

He made his first start Monday night, on the losing end of a 2-1 decision to Tradewater despite striking out 12, walking one, giving up four hits and allowing only one earned run in eight innings of work.

“This is a fun place to play,” Hayes said. “Obviously, the facilities are great. (Chris) Crockett does a great job. This is a situation where it works out for me to come and get some innings in before going up to Cape Cod, and it helps Union City while they get all their players in from the different schools and get settled on a rotation. I love coming back to Union City. It’s a great place to play. I’m going to enjoy my time here.”

Hayes’ time in Union City last year was well-spent. Earning an All-Star Game selection for the Greyhounds in 2008, he posted a 2.08 ERA in 52 innings of work with 64 strikeouts, 30 walks and 32 hits. It was just another outstanding year on a resume that’s full of them, one that has had professional scouts taking notice since his senior year, when he led McKenzie to the 2006 Class A state championship. In that season, he had a microscopic 0.63 ERA with 99 strikeouts. He whiffed 12 in the state title game where he beat future Vandy teammate Mike Minor of Forest, 2-0.

A standout football player as well, Hayes is thought to be first player in state prep history to be named the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Player of the Year and the TSSAA Mr. Football winner in the same athletic year.

Hayes could be described as a five-tool player during his one-year stint at Bethel College in 2007, where he was named second-team all-conference as a pitcher and hitter and also won the Gold Glove Pitcher of the Year award. He was 6-4 as a pitcher with a 2.72 ERA and recorded 86 strikeouts in 72 innings. He notched eight complete games in 12 starts, while also recording two saves. At the plate, he batted .320 with seven home runs and 38 RBI in 53 games.

That carried over to his first year with the Commodores, where he was 2-1 with two saves and a 3.51 ERA in 18 relief appearances and three starts. He hit .319 with four doubles and 12 RBI in 91 official at-bats as a third baseman. He posted a .418 slugging percentage and team-high .418 on-base percentage.

This past season for Vandy, Hayes was 4-3 with a 5.56 ERA, striking out 51 with 30 walks in 43 2/3 innings of work.

“My (2009) season was like our Vanderbilt season — up and down, especially at end of the season,” Hayes said. “I think went four series in a row where we swept, got swept, swept, got swept. We started playing some really good baseball at end of the year but just came up a couple of big hits short of Super Regional.”

With a young team that now has a year of Southeastern Conference baseball under its belt, Hayes can come back to Vanderbilt and be in prime position to help the ’Dores not only reach that Super Regional but also win it and make a trip to Omaha for the College World Series. However, money does, indeed, talk, and it could be too loud for him to ignore this time around.

“I was telling someone the other day that it’s hard to put dollar amount on your senior year in college,” Hayes said “That’s something I’m really looking forward to. A lot of my decision will be about the signing bonus, and that comes from where you’re drafted. They have what they call slot money, meaning they have an amount on what each player is supposed to get depending on their slot in the draft. It will depend on that, but it will be more about what’s comfortable to me and my family.

“It will come down to being comfortable with team that drafts me. I’m happy where I’m at and happy with going back to school.”

Having been through one draft and being in a collegiate conference where the draft is a regular topic of conversation, Hayes is no longer a novice to the overall experience.

Don’t surprised if someday soon he’s a veteran of the professional baseball experience ... whether it begins this year, or next.

Editor's note: Drew Hayes was the 653rd overall pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He was chosen by the Seattle Mariners, but Hayes said Wednesday in a radio interview that he hasn't decided what he will do yet. Also, Dyersburg State's Derrick Fitzgerald was chosen Wednesday by the Chicago Cubs.