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Sports

O'Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete Of The Week, Jarod Hahn, St. Louis Sting baseball

2011 Fort Zumwalt West grad will play baseball at Truman University next spring.

In a little less than a month, the lifelong dream of O’Fallon native and 2011 graduate Jarod Hahn will finally come true.

A standout youth league and high school baseball player, Hahn has always dreamed of playing in college, and maybe even professionally someday.

And sometime around Aug. 20, when freshman orientation and fall classes begin at Truman University in Kirksville, MO, Hahn’s dream life of being an actual college baseball player will finally become a reality.

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“I’m stoked,” Hahn said. “I’m so excited. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was little. I’m just excited that I have this great opportunity to do it.”

And the feeling is clearly mutual, as the Truman scouts and coaches came to see Hahn run, hit, and throw at a private workout at the Jamestown Indoor Sports Complex in Florissant last winter, and were just wowed by what they saw.

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Most would’ve been impressed just by Hahn’s fantastic high school numbers, which included a .375 batting average as a junior, and a .361 average this past spring.

But Truman’s coaches were most captivated by what they saw on Hahn’s sensational Youtube highlight video and with their own eyes that day at Jamestown.

And it was long after that they decided to offer the West High star a full scholarship to one of the Midwest’s top Division II athletic programs.

“They didn’t guarantee me a starting job or anything,” Hahn said. “They said I’ve got to fight for it like everybody else. I really can’t wait to get started.”

This summer, Hahn has played like a kid who can’t wait for the spring season to get here.  

He’s been one of the best players on one of the area’s best summer teams, the St. Louis Sting, who own a 41-11 record this summer, and have reached the final round of four different national and local tournaments.

In fact, the Sting, whose roster includes other college-bound players Trevor Jones (Central Missouri), Rich Dimock (McKendree), Juan Bowers (), and fellow future Truman Bulldog Zak Larkin, took second place this past weekend at the Diamond Sports Promotions Metro East Invitational at Edwardsville (IL) and O’Fallon (IL) High Schools.

“It’s a great feeling, just being able to play with these guys,” Hahn said. “Just to be one of those guys out there playing with them. It’s great.”

Hahn and Larkin, two very good friends, who plan to room together at Truman, are part of an eight-man recruiting class for the Bulldogs, and both have been told to expect to play and play a lot next spring.

“They said I’d be kind of a hustle guy,” Hahn said. “(I’d be) stealing bags, hitting at the top of the lineup, patrolling the outfield, just kind of doing everything.”

And that’s just how Jarod Hahn, this week’s O’Fallon Patch's Spotlight Athlete of the Week, had always hoped and dreamed it would be.

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