Former Blue Jay Connor Hoyt reflects on winning MCAC Player of the Year

May 25—THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. — Jamestown native Connor Hoyt wrote a list of goals that he wanted to accomplish as a sophomore after his freshman year at Northland Community and Technical College. The biggest goal was to be named the 2024 Minnesota College Athletic Conference Player of the Year and he did just that.

"It was more of a personal goal that I kept to myself," Hoyt said. "I had a wallpaper with all of my goals that I like to have for the entire year. That was the underlined one with big bold letters on the bottom. Not necessarily be player of the year, but ... it said keep up the hard work on the bottom."

Hoyt said some other bulletpoints on his list were to improve his stats, stay level mentally and keep having fun.

The Valley City State University bound sophomore said he found out about the award in a text message from his future coach at VCSU, Alec DeMaria.

"He texted me on Monday evening and he sent me the link and I had no idea," Hoyt said. "I was sitting with my parents in the living room and saw the text and started freaking out."

During his freshman season, Hoyt suffered a completely torn meniscus and a sprained medial collateral ligament. Hoyt said the fact that he fought through the injury makes the honor more special.

"It means a lot honestly especially with how everything went last year at the end of the year with me getting hurt," Hoyt said. "It showed that all the hard work that everything that happened in the past is the past and it was just that indicator of everything going right."

The outfielder and pitcher said he was cleared on Nov. 15.

"The recovery was tough," Hoyt said. "It was a physical challenge I will say that but it was more that mental challenge. There's multiple days where my knee wasn't feeling good and you gotta tell yourself to relax and not do much but at the same time you don't want to sit there and do nothing while you're there. You're there to play baseball so you want to get to work."

Hoyt made his season debut on Feb. 17 against Arkansas State University-Mid-South pitching three innings before hitting in the second game of the doubleheader, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.

"It felt great," Hoyt said. "It was definitely something I was looking forward to for months. Once we had that official schedule set in mid-February that we were going down to Arkansas I was just counting the days to where I could play again. Those two or three nights that we were down there before the games started I was amped, I couldn't sleep, I could barely eat because I was just too excited to get back out."

This season, Hoyt made 11 appearances on the mound, starting eight games and compiling a 4-3 record with one save in 50.1 innings pitched. He had a 4.65 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. On the mound, Hoyt said his best pitch was his changeup, which he used as his go-to pitch when he could spot it in the strike zone.

At the plate he appeared in 36 games, hitting 3.353 (IS THIS RIGHT????) with six doubles, one triple, 24 RBIs and nine stolen bases. Hoyt said he did a good job this season reaching base and coming up clutch.

"There were days where I wouldn't necessarily hit too well but there were those days where I was in those situations where you had to get a hit if you wanted to win and I felt like I capitalized on my hitting with guys on base this year," Hoyt said.

Depending on the situation that he was asked to pitch in, Hoyt said his mindset changed. When he started games, he said he came in with a calm headspace knowing that he was going to be asked to go deep into the ballgame. As a reliever, he said he was more energized and more comfortable.

In the field, Hoyt had 68 putouts, one assist and one double play. He said the double play came when he chased a ball down and took advantage of a baserunning blunder.

Despite pitching and hitting for the Pioneers, Hoyt said he is just planning on being an outfielder and a hitter with the Vikings.

"I'm hoping that I'm just gonna stay an outfielder to be honest," Hoyt said. "I do just like being an outfielder. As much as pitching is fun, it's a lot more stressful especially when we get bumped up to a four-year level, it's gonna amplify that a little bit."

Before he gets to the Vikings, Hoyt said he wants to improve his leg strength and get faster. To get faster, he said he will work out with weighted sleds.

This summer, Hoyt said he will play for the Jamestown Hounds before going to California to play in the Power Summer Collegiate League. While he said he does not know which of the 14 teams he will play for, he is excited to play in the league.

"It'll be fun and it's definitely gonna be a challenge," Hoyt said. "I think I'm excited for it. As of now, it looks like there's gonna be a lot of high talented players down there. So I'm looking forward to being able to compete with those guys and learn a little bit from those players and coaches."

One of the challenges that Hoyt said he expects to face in the league is the speed of the game.

"I think the main adjustment I'm gonna have to make is not letting that get to me, keep playing my game and whatever happens, happens," Hoyt said. "Obviously, they're good players but at the same time they're human beings so just gotta play my game and see what happens."

Hoyt said the success that he had during his sophomore year motivates him to try to have the same level of success as a Viking.

"It definitely lights a fire in me," Hoyt said. "It makes me want to keep it up and see if I could do it at the next level. I'd like to do it for Valley City. Being able to do that would definitely help contribute for our team to win games."