Joel L. Hawthorne (2014) - Hall of Fame - University of Akron Athletics

Joel L. Hawthorne

Induction:
2014
Class:
1987

1983-87
Second Base
Bachelor's 1987 | Master's 1990

A four-year letterman, Joel Hawthorne was UA’s starting second baseman all four seasons (1984-87), helping the Zips’ baseball team to four consecutive winning seasons.

Thanks to his mom, who played catch with him, and his dad, who coached him, his older brother and sister who provided support and competition, Hawthorne fell in love with baseball at the age of five.

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After years of organized youth baseball, he went on to play four years at Howland High School in Warren, Ohio, where he earned All-Steel Valley and All-Trumbull County honors.

His dream to continue playing in college was satisfied when head coach Dave Fross offered him a scholarship to play at The University of Akron in 1983.

A fierce competitor, Hawthorne was a big key in helping the Zips to four winning seasons from 1984 through 1987. He started extremely well his freshman season to win the start at second base, which he never relinquished, by batting a career-high .362 average as UA compiled a 30-18 record. In subsequent seasons Akron went 32-28 in ’85, 35-24 in ’86 and was 34-19 in ’87 to finish as Ohio Valley Conference runner-up. Hawthorne, who had a career on-base average of .465 and a career batting average of .316, so impressed opposing coaches in 1985 that he was voted first-team All-OVC honors. He repeated first-team All-OVC honors and add second-team All-South honors, as well, in his senior season when he batted .327 and had career highs in runs (62) and home runs (7).

By the time Hawthorne finished, he had played in 217 games, recorded 685 at-bats, scored 204 runs and registered 19 triples – all Akron career records. He also finished among the top five in eight of the 12 career offensive categories. During his career, Hawthorne earned the Coaches’ Award and the Best Defensive Player Award. He captained the 1986 and 1987 teams.

Like most students, when summer rolled around, Hawthorne headed home to get a job and enjoy the warm evenings. However, in Hawthorne’s case, in addition to the 50-60 UA games, he played more than 40 games on two Class AA baseball teams. He achieved this by working the midnight to 8:00 a.m. shift at a Youngstown warehouse.

One year he toured the nation with the USA-Athletes In Action team that played in two premier summer leagues, and he also participated on a team that advanced to Wichita, Kan., for the National Baseball Congress World Series. Hawthorne eventually had tryouts with the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, and Cleveland Indians.

While his dream of playing baseball professionally was not realized, Hawthorne’s two UA degrees– a bachelor’s in accounting and a master’s in business/technical education– have done him well in building a successful business career.