Athletic Sheridan senior named Player of the Year

Sheridan second baseman Hunter Hicks batted .411 with 6 home runs, 36 RBIs and 35 runs scored in his senior season. He is the 2018 Tri-Lakes Edition Baseball Player of the Year.
Sheridan second baseman Hunter Hicks batted .411 with 6 home runs, 36 RBIs and 35 runs scored in his senior season. He is the 2018 Tri-Lakes Edition Baseball Player of the Year.

SHERIDAN — One of the first things people notice about Hunter Hicks when they meet him is his hair.

His mostly black hair is littered with gray patches. Most might think Hicks dyed his hair or did something to it to give it that effect, but about a year ago, Hicks, who recently graduated from Sheridan High School, was diagnosed with vitiligo.

“I have a skin disease that changes the pigment of my skin and my hair color,” Hicks said. “It just happened, I didn’t dye it. People with more dark-complexioned skin usually get it.”

According to www.medicinenet.com, vitiligo is a condition caused by a loss of pigment cells of the skin, called melanocytes, which are destroyed in certain areas. Symptoms include loss of skin color or white patches of skin in any location on the body.

“I am used to people asking about it or looking at me funny,” Hicks said. “It pretty much happened overnight, and it just got lighter and lighter.”

He said that every time he got a haircut, it just got worse and thicker. He said he has dyed his hair before, but it doesn’t stay black for long, so he just stopped dying it.

Ben Hicks, Hunter’s dad, said the change in Hunter’s hair happened in just about three months’ time.

“It just all came about pretty quickly,” Ben said. “His mom and his family have premature gray, so we thought it was just turning gray.

“It was kind of wild. He gets a lot of questions about it.”

Luckily for Hicks, his disease does not affect his swing. Hicks, a senior for the Sheridan Yellowjackets baseball team, is a catalyst for the program, finishing the year with a .411 batting average with 6 home runs, 36 RBIs and 35 runs scored.

He helped lead the Yellowjackets to a state semifinal finish and was named a 6A all-state player. For his efforts, Hunter has been named the 2018 Tri-Lakes Edition Player of the Year.

“I never thought I would get it,” Hicks said. “I worked hard this offseason, trying to get faster and stronger. I would come out here and put in a lot of work.

“My dad has helped me a lot.”

Hunter showcased his athletic ability last fall by finishing second in the conference tournament for 6A Doubles in tennis, partnering with baseball teammate Dalton Domrase.

“I played tennis this year, and it was my first year to play it,” Hunter said. “It was kind of crazy. We just wanted to do something, and we thought it would be pretty fun.

“So we went out there and played and got better as the year went on. We somehow got second in the conference tournament.

“It was just something to do. It was fun.”

Moore said Hicks is a constant threat in his team’s baseball lineup, and other teams are going to treat him as such by pitching around him a lot.

“We have a lot of good hitters in our lineup,” Sheridan head baseball coach Michael Moore said, “but it doesn’t matter. If it has gone 0 for 3 or 3 for 3, the other team looks at Hunter and thinks about him the most.

“He puts a lot of pressure on other teams, and he makes them be aware. He is just a threat to hit a home run or drive one in the gap.”

Moore said Hicks is a very athletic player and can make big plays in the field defensively.

“He takes a lot of hits away defensively and is liable to make a play,” Moore said. “A routine play is probably more difficult for him than a difficult play. He does it regularly — he makes great plays.”

Sheridan lost to Benton in the semifinals of this year’s state tournament. But the team won 6A state championships in 2017 and 2015.

“It was a good year,” Hicks said. “We had a lot of tough games where we should have easily beaten people because the talent was there.”

Sheridan played Benton in the semifinals of the state tournament, and while opportunities were there to win, Hicks said it is hard to beat a team four times in a season.

“I was disappointed because I wanted another ring,” Hicks said. “We had a chance to win it every year.”

Moore said Hicks is a catalyst.

“Everything kind of goes around what he is doing,” Moore said. “His ability to take hits away from the other team presents big-momentum swings.”

Hicks has been a starter for Sheridan since he was a freshman. In that time, he has gotten a lot stronger and more confident, Moore said. The coach said Hicks has become a better defender, has a better arm and is a better base runner.

“He is such a good athlete, and he is constantly and consistently getting better,” Moore said. “As a freshman, he was playing like most juniors or seniors, and as a senior, he was a Division I baseball player.

“I still think he has a lot of room to improve. He will end up even better offensively. There are a lot of things about him that are going to improve.”

Moore said Hicks is only going to continue to mature and develop as a player. The coach said he can see Hicks elevating his game, potentially, to the next level.

Hicks has signed to play baseball for the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. He also received offers from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri, and Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.

Hicks said he chose to play for UCA because it would have better competition and have better opportunities. He said he has always liked visiting the school because it has a great campus.

“They haven’t guaranteed me playing time, but I think if I go up there and work hard, hit and compete, I think I will be able to play,” Hicks said. “They graduated 12 guys, and three juniors just got drafted, so they are losing a lot.”

He said he is looking forward to playing against other Division I schools and getting stronger and meeting new people.

“My dream is to get drafted [to Major League Baseball]. It is one of the reasons I am going there,” Hicks said.

He said he eventually wants to become either a high school or college baseball coach, so his studies at UCA will reflect that goal.

“I am very excited for him,” Ben said. “I am excited to see that next chapter. He will handle it well. He has a good work ethic, and I think he will do good at the next level.”

Ben said having his son play at UCA means a lot because it also means he can still see him play because it is only about a 40-minute commute to UCA from the family’s house.

“He was the one who did all the work,” Ben said. “He put all the work in, making about 1,200 to 1,400 cuts (or swings) a week. That’s a lot of swings for a young kid.

“He did all the work. That was all on him.”

Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.

Upcoming Events