KU Scholar Athlete of the Month: Devon Hart
Home Run Was Sweet Music for Devon Hart
- School: Lafayette High
- GRADE: 12
- Sport: Baseball
- Academics: Devon has a 4.41 weighted GPA, scored 27 on the ACT, took three A.P. classes and played violin in the SCAPA program.
- Parents: Marnice & David
When pitcher Devon Hart finally got his first varsity at-bat — in his next-to-last game at Lafayette High – his appearance raised an interesting question: Why wasn’t this guy batting more often?
In the Regional semifinals against Model, Devon smacked a fastball deep over the left-center field fence for a three-run homer in a 22-0 win.
He finished his Lafayette career with a perfect batting line: 1.000 batting average and 4.000 slugging percentage.
“Oh man, it was crazy,” Devon said about the home run. “I felt like I was on top of the world.”
But it’s not his bat that he is taking to Transylvania University – it’s his pitching arm. Devon, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound right-hander, blossomed as a senior for Lafayette, posting a 6-0 record with a 2.23 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 40 innings. He had 10 starts and the Generals were 9-1 in those games.
That’s one of the reasons Lafayette won the district title for an unprecedented fourth straight season. Devon played on the varsity for three of those years, balancing the demands of baseball with his work as a classical violinist in the SCAPA program.
Devon, 18, started both baseball and violin at the age of 4 and will continue both pursuits at Transylvania on a music scholarship. A member of the National Honor Society, he graduated with a 4.41 weighted GPA, scored 27 on the ACT and took three A.P. classes. He also performed countless times with the school orchestra and throughout the community with the SCAPA program.
As a soloist and with small ensembles, he performed at churches, V.A. hospitals, the Lexington Cemetery and at public events like the annual downtown Christmas tree lighting.
He also competed in Ky. Music Education Assn. events, earning distinguished recognition for seven straight years. He played in the Festival of Strings and National Federation of Music events but considers his top accomplishment qualifying for SCAPA.
In his senior class, only six students in orchestra graduated with a SCAPA degree as well as a Lafayette diploma.
At Transylvania, he will perform in the chamber orchestra, no doubt playing works from his favorite composers – Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.
Devon is also an avid student of history but will major in accounting and minor in music at Transy.
“Music and baseball use two different sides of your brain and Devon does a good job of meshing them together,” his father David said. “I was amazed at how he managed his time, doing homework whenever he had a free moment.”
Said his mother Marnice: “Devon has great conviction. He sets high standards for himself and does whatever is necessary to reach those standards.”