Former Coppin State Male Athlete of the Year David Hamlett from the CSU Baseball team was recently promoted to the Amateur Scouting Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Eight years ago, Hamlett was dominating on the diamond and in the classrooms and he is still striking out his competition in the major leagues but in a different fashion.
As a scouting coordinator, Hamlett oversees providing the administrative, logistical and technical support on the operational side of the department.
Hamlett says his time at Coppin really prepared him for the role he is now.
“As a student athlete, Coppin taught me time management, work ethic, and how to embrace the grind”, said Hamlet. “I remember it being my first year at Coppin and sitting in Daley Hall’s computer lab with every monitor streaming an MLB game. While studying players and various aspects of the game I was constantly thinking about how I could make this a career. Fast forward 8 years and I am extremely excited to be working in one of the most prestigious front offices in baseball as the Tampa Bay Rays Amateur Scouting Coordinator.
The 2014 CSU Male Athlete of the Year and was also named to the All-MEAC baseball preseason first team. He was listed as MEAC top-ten pro prospects according to Baseball America in its college preview issue. In addition, Hamlett was named to the College Sports Madness MEAC Preseason All-Conference first team. In his junior year he had a .295 batting average and led the Eagles with 39 hits. He had a season-high eight game hitting streak (April 2-Aprl 18). He had four hits to lead CSU to an 8-6 victory over Delaware State on March 23 that clinched the Eagles first series win over Delaware State since 2005. Overall, Hamlett has nine multi-hit games to lead Coppin State.
In two seasons with the Eagles, he played 88 games with 85 starts averaging a .295. He had 43 runs on 94 hits with 21 doubles. Four triples and two home runs. He also recorded 57 RBIs.
“David was one of my first big recruits as Head Coach at Coppin, and he proved to be one of the top shortstops in the MEAC, said Coach Sherman Reed“. “I remember David always encouraging me to use him “as an example,” when trying to get a point across to the team. He backed down from no challenges and exhibited what Coppin State Baseball has become today. It doesn’t surprise me at all with the success he’s having in Major League Scouting with Tampa Bay.”
The example was set and still being set by David Hamlett.