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MOREHEAD, Ky. – With minor league all-star breaks taking place this week, several former Morehead State baseball players have made their mark across professional baseball this season.

Former Eagles Taylor Davis (AAA), Tyler Keele (A-Advanced), Aaron Leasher (A), and Niko Hulsizer (Rookie), along with former coaches Graham Johnson (A) and Dillon Lawson (A), are competing with affiliated Minor League teams. Former pitcher Patrick McGuff and infielder Braxton Morris are competing in the Independent Frontier League.

Davis is in the midst of his eighth professional season and fourth season with the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. This season, he ranks second amongst Iowa regulars in batting average, hitting at a .292 clip across 49 games. Davis has legged out 10 doubles and swatted a single homer for Iowa, also adding 20 runs batted in and runs scored. He's reached base at a .371 clip this season, drawing 22 walks. Last season, he appeared in eight games with the Chicago Cubs as a September call-up, making his Major League debut on Sept. 8, 2017. Davis also appears on the ballot for the 2018 Triple-A All-Star game to be played in Columbus, Ohio on July 11. Fan voting closes on June 22.

Keele, an Arizona Diamondbacks farmhand, is in his first season with the Visalia Rawhide in the Class A-Advanced California League. He joined the Rawhide in late May after making a single start for the Single-A Kane County (Ill.) Cougars. With Visalia, Keele has appeared in five games, making four starts, while accumulating 18 strikeouts in 22.0 innings. In his last appearance, he notched his first save of the season, tossing four scoreless innings to preserve a shutout victory over the San Jose Giants.

Leasher, in his first full professional season, was named a 2018 Midwest League All-Star, earning the start for the East squad in Tuesday's game. In a single inning of work on Tuesday, Leasher surrendered one hit, while adding a strikeout in a scoreless frame. A member of the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres affiliate) rotation, he owns a 2.77 ERA across the Midwest League's first half. In 13 appearances, nine of them starts, Leasher registered a 3-3 record, while striking out 63 hitters in 61.2 innings.

Hulsizer, a 2018 MLB draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was given his first Minor League assignment earlier this week, being assigned to the Rookie-Level Ogden (Utah) Raptors of the Pioneer League. In his first professional game Tuesday, he went 1-for-3, stealing a base and scoring a run in Ogden's 7-2 victory over Orem (Utah).

Former coaches Johnson and Lawson, now the pitching and hitting coaches, respectively, for the Houston Astros Single-A affiliate Quad Cities River Bandits, helped lead the Midwest League club to a West Division first-half crown and a spot in the Midwest League Playoffs. The pair, like Leasher, also took part in the Midwest League All-Star game, serving as coaches for the West Division. This season, Johnson's pitching staff leads the Midwest League in several categories, including ERA (2.94), shutouts (8), saves (24), and strikeouts (744). As for Lawson's hitters, they lead the Midwest League with 25 triples, while notching a .252 average and 47 home runs.

McGuff is in his first season pitching with the Evansville (Ind.) Otters of the Frontier League. In four starts this season, he owns a 3-0 record, tossing 25.0 innings with a complete game. McGuff owns a 0.72 ERA, allowing just two runs this season, while striking out 22.

Morris, a recent signee of the Washington (Pa.) Wild Things, embarks on his professional career after signing as a free agent in early June. He marks the second former Eagles in as many seasons to play for Washington, joining former Eagle first baseman and current hitting coach Kane Sweeney. Morris has appeared in one game this season for Washington, which currently owns a Frontier League-best 23-11 record.