TSSAA Spring Fling 2019: State's top football prospect Maurice Hampton wins Mr. Baseball

MURFREESBORO — Next month, Maurice Hampton Jr. will have to potentially make a life-changing decision.

Will he go to LSU, where he has signed to play football, or will he forgo the Tigers if selected in the MLB Draft?

On Tuesday, he was more concerned with hardware.

Hampton was named the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association's Division II-AA Mr. Baseball. He hit .480 with 11 doubles and 10 home runs for the Owls.

Prior to the season, Hampton was projected as a first-round draft pick. CBS Sports projected him at No. 31 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a mock draft on Monday. MLB.com projected him at No. 34 to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a mock draft posted earlier this month.

Hampton, who is Tennessee's top football prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, isn't getting caught up in it.

"I looked at a couple (draft projections) before the season," said Hampton, who is the first Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball recipient since the award began five years ago. "But since the season has been going on, I've just been focused on what's at hand.

"I've got a couple workouts the next couple of weeks before the draft. I just have to see what happens and see where I go."

Other Mr. Baseball award winners included: Loretto's Blade Tidwell in Class A, Pigeon Forge's Noah Gent in Class AA, Clarksville's Nick James in Class AAA and CAK's Jacob Tate in DII-A.

It marks the third consecutive year that a Loretto baseball player was honored. Ryan Weathers, who was picked by the San Diego Padres in the first round last year, received the honor in 2017 and 2018.

"It means a lot and I appreciate winning it," Tidwell said. "But I'd rather win the state tournament."

Tidwell, a Tennessee commitment, is an infielder and pitcher for the Mustangs, who will attempt to reach their third straight championship. Tidwell is hitting .557 with 20 doubles and six home runs. He was 8-0 with two saves. He's struck out 107 batters while giving up just 17 hits.

Tate, a Kentucky signee, was a finalist for the award a year ago.

"This is super special," said Tate who is 11-0 with a 0.48 ERA and 105 strikeouts. "I was in this a year ago and didn't win. To come back this year is great."

Gent was the DII-A winner at Knoxville Grace in 2018. The Walters State signee hit .589 with 22 doubles and eight home runs this season. 

James, a North Carolina signee, is the second from Clarksville to win the award, joining the late Donny Everett, who won the inaugural Class AAA award in 2015.

James went 8-1 with a 0.73 ERA. He had 114 strikeouts in 57⅓ innings. He threw three no-hitters and combined for two more.

"This is a great honor," James said. "This is a good finishing note to my senior season. It's a good reward for the hard work I've put in."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.