Another gem looming? Texas signee Hayes Holton of Loranger has next-level potential
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
LORANGER – Just outside the city limits on La. 40 is a testimony to the greatest player in Loranger High School history.
Wade Miley was a fire-balling left-handed pitcher who was a hometown hero who went on to enjoy a Hall of Fame career for Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond. He was a first-round draft choice of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011, embarking on a 15-year career with seven different teams that included a runner-up finish for the National League Rookie of the Year in 2012.
More than a decade after the completion of Miley’s professional career has been the emergence of another hard-throwing pitcher – right-hander Hayes Holton – that’s evoked comparisons of another next-level player to emerge from the rural community in Tangipahoa Parish of nearly 7,000 residents.
“Hayes’ mindset is to be as good,” Loranger baseball coach Derek Sims. “There’s a path already in front of him where he could follow it, but he wants to pave his own path, too. That’s the competitive nature of him. He understands the greatness of Wade and loves what he did for the town and the program. He wants to take that a step further, too.”
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Holton, one of the top pitchers in the country and No. 2 overall player in his home state, signed a scholarship with the University of Texas, where he’ll bring an impressive arsenal of pitches that includes a 97 miles per hour fastball.
Major League Baseball will be taking notice next spring where a flood of scouts and cross-checkers will sit in the stands with radar guns and notebooks and determine whether their clubs will draft him next summer.
“My dad (Mitch) has told me stories of Wade,” Holton said. “He used to stay and watch him play. We went to the same church for a while. I’ve had conversations with him in the past. Just knowing that it can be possible. It’s happened before. It happened once; it can happen again. That was another driving factor.”
The town’s love affair with Miley, who grew up in Loranger after being born in Hammond, continues more than a decade after his final season pitching for the Chicago Cubs. He’s best known for a rookie season that landed him in a battle for MLB’s top first-year player, which went to Bryce Harper of Washington.
Miley, who also played for Boston, Seattle, Milwaukee, Houston, and Cincinnati, won 100 games during his pro career.
In addition to the billboard, Miley’s also sits atop signage in left-center field at Loranger’s home field with the heading: Home of Wade Miley.
“I started playing in the yard with my dad when I was 4,” Holton said. “Then I played T-Ball and got serious at 13-14. I thought maybe I could be something at this. The goal was to always play college ball. I didn’t know what level that was going to be. I wanted to continue playing because I love the game.
“Then at 14U, I thought this is something I could do for a while,” Holton said. “My speed (velocity) was ticking up, and my maturity. I was getting bigger and strong, and that’s when it was set in stone. That this could be the real deal.”
Holton had determined his future would be in the Southeastern Conference, issuing a commitment to Mississippi State a year ago. Those plans took a detour when the school fired Lemonis, who led the school to the 2021 national championship, after a 25-19 record and 7-14 in the SEC, an indication the Bulldogs would miss the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years.
“I was in deep thought for a while after the news of coach Lemonis’ firing,” Holton said. “It was heavy on my heart, and didn’t know if it was the right place for me anymore. I started to think and pray on it.”
Holton took the better part of the next year to find a new home. He wasn’t the biggest fan of all of the recruiting calls and followed his heart back to the SEC, where he committed to Texas.
The Longhorns of first-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle finished 44-14 overall and lost in the championship game of the NCAA regional in Austin to Texas-San Antonio.
“I knew I wanted to go to the University of Texas,” he said.
Texas put together the nation’s No. 3 recruiting class, according to Perfect Game, that included seven right-handed pitchers with Holton’s signature taking place last week amid friends and family in Loranger’s baseball clubhouse.
“He’s been throwing pretty hard since we were in the eighth grade, and as the years have gone by, it’s gotten harder,” Loranger senior catcher Braedyn Stevens said. “You always saw the potential.”
The kind of promise that will enable Holton to command attention from the Major League, which conducts its annual amateur draft July 12-13.
“There’s benefits to both,” he said of going to Texas or bypassing college and signing a professional contract. “I’m not leaning either way. It’s going to be a lot of thought and prayer behind it. Whatever decision I do make, it will be the decision for me.”
By the time he was old enough to drive, Holton’s career began to take off.
He credits a great deal of his early development to K9 Baseball in nearby Goodbee in St. Tammany Parish, leading to showcases across the country.
The Baseball Ranch in Montgomery, Texas, added another layer to his development and helped him figure out his future.
“I wanted to know what could come of this,” he said. “Was I sitting on a pot of gold, or was it nothing? As I figured myself out and gained more knowledge, that (Baseball Ranch) pairing with K9, helped set me apart.”
Travel ball represented a stair-step approach to a competitive background.
The Stingrays of Covington were a group of 13-14-year-olds that faced Louisiana-based competition, followed by a spot with the 15-16-year-old Louisiana Nationals, part of the Luccini National organization, which ventured outside of Louisiana and faced competition in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.
He joined the Canes Baseball last summer and represented the team in tournaments in Virginia, Atlanta, Cary, N.C., and Ft Myers, Fla.
Holton also took part in elite showcases such as Perfect Game nationals in Arizona and returned to Cary, N.C., for an opportunity to try out for the USA national team.
USA Baseball invited 88 players with the intention of paring that down to 40 with a final roster of 20.
“This was the best guys in the country,” he said. “We played a few games, and you get invited back until you make the team. Just being there, and you see all of these guys you’ve played with all summer long. You get to throw against them.”
When Holton wasn’t called back for the 40-man roster, he took the news in stride.
“I wasn’t mad about it,” he said. “My performance was going to either be barely yes or barely no. I’ve been fortunate to have had all of these opportunities that I’ve had and to get to play in all of the places I’ve played. I’m thankful for all of the things that I have, but I’m also thankful for the things that I don’t have.
“I didn’t get to go to the 40-man or any All-America games,” he said. “It’s something I have that motivates me. In my mind, when I’m on the mound, I’m the best. Something could happen that day, and I’m not the best. Whether I had a great start of six innings and a bunch of Ks and no hits, I’m always thinking maybe I should have thrown this or that. At the big events that didn’t necessarily go right or go my way, those are stepping stones that help me to be standing where I am today.”
The USA tryouts were an eye-opening experience for Holton. He remembered one of his hardest pitches nearly traveling out of the park before finding a home in the glove of the center fielder on the warning track five feet from the center field wall.
“He scorched it,” he said. “You think you’re good, and somebody does something like that to you. You go back to your seat and humble yourself.”
That screamer that Holton watched was off the bat of Florida signee Brady Harris, the nation’s No. 7 overall prospect and No. 1 outfielder from Trinity Christian High in St. Augustine, Fla. He also praised Aiden Ruiz of Stony Brook High in Queens, N.Y. – a Vanderbilt signee – for being among the players that was the toughest to get out.
Both players made the Team USA final roster.
Holton first reached the 90-mile-per-hour barrier in September before his sophomore season. He steadily pushed radar guns with a reading between 91-94, followed by another jump in the summer to 93-96 during a tournament in Georgia.
“In a two-month span, I went from 91 to 96,” he said. “Being with K9 helped, and learning more about myself.
Loranger junior Wyatt Garofalo is another catcher who experienced catching Holton in middle school and travel ball. He said it’s hard to rattle Holton, who has been a pleasure to catch.
“You can’t get in his head,” he said. “He’s a dog. You can just call a pitch, and it will be there.”
Holton’s repertoire also includes a change-up which makes his fastball appear even faster, and his slider is regarded for a terrific spin rate and curveball that has plenty of movement.
“For a lot of my life, I chased the velo a bit,” he said. “Now, in the past year, I’ve matured with that. I know what all my stuff does and who it works best against. Right now, this season, it’s going to be mainly just putting it in that spot over and over again.
“The missing piece may have been that I couldn’t put it in the same spot two times in a row,” he said. “I feel like that piece will be connected this year. My four-seam (fastball) has heavy ride, and I get a lot of swings under it. I’ve had a good success rate with the change. When I tunnel the ball right, it’s hard to hit.”
Sims said Holton spent the better part of the 2025 season regaining his strength after being limited from a summer’s worth of work.
“He was getting his first mound innings in games, and he was on a pitch count,” Sims said. “There was some rust there, trying to get some confidence. When he was in the zone, they didn’t hit him. Walks, stolen bases, and passed balls were how teams scored. It’s tough to catch 94 with a change-up and keep it in front. There’s a much higher level he can get to be ready in February and not having to ramp up during the season.”
Loranger went 10-8 overall and finished 3-5 in District 7-4A play and out of the state playoffs.
Holton, who plays shortstop when not on the mound, batted .291 with six doubles and 12 RBIs. He was 2-3 on the mound with a 1.89 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 33.1 innings.
“He had some arm issues, nothing major, last fall,” Sims said. “He was kind of ramping up all year. He didn’t really have his best stuff, but he always gave us everything he had, and there were a lot of tough luck losses. He’s a phenomenal kid, a phenomenal talent, and the sky’s the limit for him. I’m excited for his future and what it holds.”
During Holton’s career, Loranger’s made the playoffs twice. Two years ago, the Wolves were swept in the first round of the Division II non-select playoffs by West Feliciana, a year after advancing to the Division III playoffs, where they were swept at Erath.
Holton points to the overriding strength of this year’s team: experience.
Loranger will rely on the direction of 15 upperclassmen, that include five seniors with Holton and pitcher/infielder Logan Matherne, who also signed last week with Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
“The backbone of this team will be based on three or four-year starters,” Holton said. “I feel like the experience is there. We’ve experienced a lot of losing, and that’s in the corner of our minds. It’s my fourth year here, and I’ve had three coaches. Now we’re in a kinda stable place, we kinda know him and what it’s going to be.
“We know how we need to be and what to work to do to achieve the greatness we’re hoping to achieve,” Holton said. “I think this year we have a good shot. We have legit pieces. Logan’s our best player. We have guys that can do what they need to do and help the team out. There are seven other guys on this team that I would trust with my life. We’re going to achieve what we need to achieve.”
Garofalo acknowledged the additional buzz that accompanies playing a home game with Holton on the mound.
“Everybody’s hyped,” he said. “He is throwing so many pitches for strikes.”
Sims agreed.
“When he throws, there’s a different air in the stadium,” he said. “Both teams are in awe. Fans are in awe, and it’s very intense. No matter who we’re playing, the other team wants to win really bad just because it’s him. He gets stuff from the other student sections, and he’s done a pretty good job of using that as fuel, not letting it get to him and making it a negative.”
Sims expects Holton and Matherne to play significant roles in this year’s leadership, relying on their three years as starters to set examples for others to follow.
“Hayes may have the individual accolades, but he really can’t do it by himself,” Sims said. “He needs his team to perform as well. Every day, even last year as a junior, he was a team leader, and everyone looked up to him, and he drove everybody on the right track with Logan as well. They’ve taken that a step farther as seniors, and I’m excited to see them on the field as seniors this year.”
Holton, who appeared at the Perfect Game National Showcase in Phoenix on July 7-11 and Area Code Games on Aug. 1-11 in Long Beach, CA., began throwing several weeks ago, nothing that would send radar guns into a tizzy, but rather to establish a routine of consistency he plans to carry into the spring.
He’s anticipating a rush of scouts jotting down his every move, not only his ability to ring up double-digit strikeouts, but also getting out of potentially challenging innings and leading his team to success.
“It’s going to be crazy,” he said of pitching in front of scouts. “When you’re on the mound, you’ve got a job to do. My job is to throw to the catcher and get outs. My job is to eliminate a ball falling in and get to the hitting side of where we can do some damage. My goal is never going to change. I may throw one (hard) to show what I have, but at the day my job doesn’t change.”
“He’s pretty calm about it; he’s been all over the world,” Garofalo said of Holton. “He’s consistently 93-94. It’s crazy.”