Hagan Ward following father’s footsteps to Notre Dame
NEEDHAM, Mass. (BVM) — Hagan Ward has been around baseball his whole life, and plenty of success has come his way because of that. Now one of Massachusetts’ best baseball players is gearing up to pitch at his father’s old stomping grounds: Notre Dame.
“My dad loves baseball just as much as I do, if not more,” Ward said. “I was always around baseball and softball, and my dad was throwing me the Wiffle ball in the backyard when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I was just around the sport a lot.”
Hearing about his dad, Daniel, competing in the NCAA motivated Ward to pursue athletics. He was also coached by his dad, which impacted his abilities considerably.
“My dad was always a coach on my teams through little league, and he was always kind of the pitching guy,” Hagan said. “He got me into pitching at a young age and I obviously have stuck with it.”
However, Ward also loved to play another popular sport in the Northeast: hockey.
“Through eighth grade, around 13 or 14, I considered myself more of a hockey player,” Hagan said. “Around that age, I started taking baseball more seriously, just because I was better at it at the time. I loved playing hockey and other sports.”
Pursuing a hockey career wouldn’t have been a bad choice, given that Ward stands at 6-foot-7. Some even get him confused as a basketball player, but he uses his height as an advantage on the mound.
“Honestly, when people see me for the first time, they ask me if I only play basketball,” Hagan said. “They never ask if I play baseball, and they’re always shocked to hear that. I was always pretty tall as a kid and had a growth spurt my freshman year; I think I grew four or five inches. Obviously, now it’s better to have a bigger frame, but it was a lot to handle when I was younger, but now it’s a big benefit for me.”
That benefit was seen last season, especially with his own performances. But he’s more focused on helping St. Sebastian’s succeed in the playoffs and win a championship.
“Last season, our team finished pretty well; finished third in our league,” Hagan said. “But we kind of underperformed. I thought my pitching was good, but my biggest issue was a breaking ball. I never really had a consistent grip, release, or spin. I have a slider and curveball, mostly because I never had an out pitch to a right-handed batter. Having a consistent breaking ball will be a big game-changer for me.”
Having a different arsenal of pitches can certainly raise the level of success for Ward. If he does find more success on the mound, expectations are sure to rise across the board. Platforms like Perfect Game already have Ward ranked as Massachusetts’s fourth-best high school prospect, but he isn’t focused on those rankings.
“I’ve always focused on doing my own thing and not worrying about anything I can’t control,” Hagan said. “I just think about the other kids that are working just as hard as I am, and the only thing I can do is work harder than them.”
With Ward continuing to put in the work, he has attracted the attention of some of the best baseball programs in the nation. However, almost two years ago, no one was paying attention to the current Notre Dame commit.
“Summer 2021 is when it [the recruiting process] all took off,” Hagan said. “I had a really good sophomore year for high school and I played club baseball for the Ruffnecks throwing in the low 80s, and had some D-I schools on my radar.”
But it wasn’t all about baseball to Ward. He wanted to attend a school that provided the necessary means to an excellent education and could support athletes simultaneously.
‘23 RHP Hagan Ward (MA) huge at 6-7/230, hammering the strike zone at 89-91 with good sink, landing shorter slider for strikes, has shown change with fade as well. Very efficient, forced weak contact. #ND commit. #PGNational @PG_NewEngland pic.twitter.com/lHFpNrCutw
— PG Showcases (@PGShowcases) July 24, 2022
“I got a call from Scott Brown, the pitching coach at Vanderbilt; that was the first big school I really talked to,” Hagan said. “I also talked to Notre Dame, which had always been my dream school and had a lot of schools talking to me, but I really was only thinking about Notre Dame or Vanderbilt. Both are amazing academic schools and great baseball programs, and I chose Notre Dame. I couldn’t believe it, to be honest. It was quite a summer.”
2023 St. Sebastian’s (Mass.) RHP Hagan Ward has signed with @NDBaseball. The 6-foot-7, 230-pounder was hitting the low 90s with consistency over the summer. pic.twitter.com/Ecn8iDHfpk
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreemanISD) November 9, 2022
Along with fielding interest from the college ranks, Ward also turned some heads in the professional ranks. And while that may not be his sole focus, he has given some thought to what it could be like to be a pitcher in MLB.
“It’s definitely on my radar,” Hagan said. “I’ve thrown in front of a few scouts this offseason, and I definitely will this high school season. It’s a possibility but not my dead-set goal. My goal is to go out there and do the best I can, and if an opportunity were to come like that, it’d be amazing; it would also be going to Notre Dame.”
It has been a fantastic journey for one of the Bay State’s top baseball players, and he will continue to cherish and capitalize on the opportunities that lie in front of him. But one thing is for certain; he will never run out of love for the game and his passion for competition will never dwindle.
“I just love being on the field; I don’t know what it is,” Hagan said. “I’m kind of a completely different person within the lines, especially on days that I pitch. I love the competitiveness of being a pitcher, just me vs. the batter. I love it. It’s really hard to put into words.”
