Class of 1999
Luke Hagerty was a two-sport standout at Defiance High School, earning WBL honors in both baseball and basketball his senior year.
As a junior, Luke averaged 7.2 points and 3.2 rebounds for a Division I sectional championship team before those numbers doubled to 14.7 points and 6.0 rebounds as a senior. That year, Hagerty made 63 percent from the field for the WBL and D-I sectional champions while recording 2.1 block shots per game. He was an Indiana-Ohio All-Star nominee, a District 8 special mention selection and the leading scorer in the District All-Star game.
In baseball, the left-handed pitcher finished with a 7-0 record his senior year for a team that advanced to the regional finals and was ranked as high as 11th in the nation by USA Today.
That year Hagerty became the first member of the Defiance 90 MPH Club.
Hagerty, who was recruited by colleges in both sports, went on to play baseball at Ball State where he earned first-team MAC honors, All-Mideast Regional second-team honors by American Baseball Coaches Association and was the eighth-ranked player in the nation by Baseball
America “Super 50”. He also won numerous honors in the Central Illinois Collegiate League
Called by Ball State coach Rich Maloney, “One of the best players to ever wear a Ball State uniform,” Hagerty, who ranks fifth in all-time strikeouts per game with the Cardinals at 9.67 - including 16 in a seven-inning game with Valparaiso - is one of seven players in Ball State history to be a first-round draft pick in any professional sport.That draft selection came in 2002 when Hagerty was a first-round pick of the Chicago Cubs and the 32nd pick overall, becoming the first Defiance High School graduate to be drafted in the opening round of any professional sport.
In 2002 with the Boise Cubs, Luke pitched 48 innings with 50 strikeouts, had a 5-3 record and a 1.13. ERA. He was named MVP of the NW Minor League Championship Game that season during a year in which he was the seventh-ranked Cubs prospect according to Baseball
America. Luke was also listed in the New York Times’ bestselling book Money Ball as one of eight pitchers on Billy Benes wish list for the 2002 Draft.
Injured in 2003, Hagerty became a first round Rule 5 selection and sixth pick overall by the Florida Marlins in 2005 and made the 25-man roster.
He currently is owner and operator of X2baseball where he trains and develops professional, collegiate and high school athletes. Hagerty currently has 24 trainees in Major League Baseball organizations. Luke is also a high school pitching coach in Arizona as well as pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Scout team, which placed third in the WWBA World Baseball Championships in 2018..
Luke and his wife Rachel have two children, Elan 7 and Lincoln 5.