More Hope

Zyhir Hope was profiled in the February/March issue of Stafford Magazine. To read that article online, scan the QR code.

Hope has handled all the attention with poise. He knows the scouts are there. He and his family met a number of them during the offseason when the scouts made home visits. Hope chatted with them before the game when they came to watch batting practice. Hope’s mother, Tiffany, said the scouts talked to her at games as well.

“I love that part of it,” Tiffany said. “It takes away the pressure. There’s no tension.”

Tiffany said as of late May there had been no discussions between MLB teams and the family regarding what it would take financially for Hope to bypass North Carolina and sign a pro contract. The family has discussed it among themselves with the help of Hope’s advisors, Jake Rosner and Adam Rosenthal from Octagon, a sports agency based in Tysons.

It will take a strong offer to sway Hope from attending North Carolina. With a select number of picks available in the 20-round draft, MLB teams typically avoid selecting players they don’t think they can sign.

“We have an idea of what we’re not going to take,” Tiffany said about bonus parameters. “We feel like we’re in a win-win situation. We’re not desperate.”

Hope shares the same view.

“I ask myself, ‘What if it can turn into something better than I can imagine and the right things fall into place?’” Hope said. “I’m so blessed to be in this position not only for me, but for my teammates. It gives them a great opportunity to be seen by scouts and colleges.”

UNC head baseball coach Scott Forbes keeps checking in with Hope, having done this long enough to know he might lose him to the draft. Hope has nothing but good things to say about North Carolina. He wore a Tar Heel backpack to school and raves about the UNC bucket hat he bought at the campus bookstore during his official visit.

Hope said he feels no pressure to make a decision.

“Yes I want to go to UNC,” Hope said. “But at the same time, this is both my dreams.”

No one around him is pressuring him either.

“It’s ultimately what he wants to do,” Tiffany said.

Back on the softball field, Hope helps his teammates chant “D.C United” while he runs past each player standing in a line near home plate. He said there’s no reason for the chant other than to have fun. Hope is savoring every moment.

After graduation May 20, he and his senior teammates posed for photos on the baseball field. Hope even did one of his famous backflips in his graduation gown.

Time has moved fast since Hope arrived at Colonial Forge as an unknown junior. Now, he’s one of the most-liked and familiar faces there.

“It’s sad to see his [high school] journey coming to an end, but look at the memories it has created,” Tiffany said.

David Fawcett is sports editor of InsideNoVa. He can be reached at dfawcett@insidenova.com www.rappahannockareacsb.org