{"id":855037,"date":"2026-09-21T04:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/855037\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T04:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:16:22","slug":"former-otters-pitches-now-in-mlb-look-back-on-time-in-evansville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/855037\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Otters pitches now in MLB look back on time in Evansville"},"content":{"rendered":"

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – Once an Otter, always an Otter – this is something Grif Hughes, Braden Scott, and Nick McAuliffe have experienced first hand, or should I say first pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s been the part of four seasons down in Evansville,\u201d said Braden Scott, Atlanta Brave affiliate pitcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cParts of I would say like two seasons,\u201d said Grif Hughes, Colorado Rockies affiliate pitcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played Evansville last year, all the whole season, and then I got picked up by the Minnesota Twins in April,\u201d said Nick McAuliffe, Minnesota Twins affiliate pitcher.<\/p>\n

Each pitcher playing for different amounts of time, but still taking so much from those around them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first year really taught me how to be a professional, meaning that like the guys that were in the locker room really taught me how to go about my business, what to and not to worry about, and things on in that nature,\u201d said Hughes. \u201cBecause this is this this life doesn\u2019t come with a manual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve, I mean, they\u2019ve been a big help,\u201d said Scott. \u201cJust kind of me getting my confidence as a as a pitcher in professional baseball, and then obviously you know giving me a way to continue to play the game to to try to go and get picked up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evansville wasn\u2019t just a hotspot for pushing them forward, it\u2019s a place of support and comradery…<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole coaching staff in Evansville is is prime. It is like really good, really well,\u201d said McAuliffe. \u201cThey were traditional, everything they do, I think it guys the most, or get guys to fulfill the dreams of playing organizational baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing that has always been consistent surround these athletes is the people in the stands…<\/p>\n

Whether they\u2019re there for theme nights, or the love of the game, it never goes unnoticed…<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know whether we were winning or losing or whatever it was, you know, anytime that anybody had success, the the people of Evansville and that organization made sure that that they would, you know, give you give you your flowers a little bit, and that was always a really cool thing,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like you know they\u2019re they\u2019re coming to watch you, and you know Evansville\u2019s such,\u201d said Hughes. \u201cIt feels bigger than it actually is when you\u2019re there. Everybody kind of knows everybody, and and so one of the bigger things I noticed is just like the community constantly pours into us: win, lose, draw. It was like the families that are there are there because they they want to come watch us play and they want to come support us and you know I was really thankful for that in my time there because you don\u2019t you don\u2019t realize how much of a family it feel it really truly feels like a family while you\u2019re there and then when you you know go other places it\u2019s not always like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all goes back to where it starts, once an Otter, always an Otter, and these three know a thing or two about that.<\/p>\n

\"wfie<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WFIE. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – Once an Otter, always an Otter – this is something Grif Hughes, Braden Scott,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-855037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}