Iowa baseball lands JUCO commit

Coach Heller got some good news Monday afternoon on the recruiting front, as Iowa Western OF Kyle Huckstorf announced his commitment to the Iowa program. He is a 5’8, 160 lb, freshman, so he will have three years of eligibility remaining to use at Iowa.

Huckstorf has played in 37 games for the Reivers this season, with a batting average of .420, while gathering 86 total bases. He has filled that stat sheet with 11 doubles, five triples and six home runs, to go along with 57 runs scored. Huckstorf has walked 26 times to 16 strikeouts and has an outstanding .558 OBP%. As a fielder, he has made one error in 35 chances in the outfield.

Without ever watching him, it is hard to draw any conclusions, but the statistics make it seem like he is a Ben Norman type player. Has the ability to get on base at a high rate, while also having the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark. He also has some speed on the bases, as he has stolen 15 bases.

Coming out of high school, Huckstorf was rated as the #7 outfielder and the #38 prospect out of the state of Wisconsin, in the 2019 class. With Zeb Adreon and Ben Norman graduating this year, as well as Trenton Wallace in 2022. Huckstorf could be a valuable part of the Hawkeye outfield going forward.

Next year, the outfield will have Brayden Frazier, Trenton Wallace, Kyle Huckstorf, Paul Vossen and Sam Link vying for time. Keaton Anthony, DJ Heck and Alec Nigut will also be outfielders on the roster. Connor McCaffery will be nearly three years removed from his last baseball game next year, so it is not surprising to see Coach Heller add a long term outfield piece.