Former Cooter, Catfish standout taking the next step up with WKU

Cape Catfish hitter Hayden Nazerenus swings at a pitch last season at Capaha Field.

Tony Capobianco ~ Tcapobianco@semoball.com

The baseball evolution of former Cooter High School standout Hayden Nazerenus took another step upward recently when he signed to play for NCAA Division I Western Kentucky University in the fall of 2025.

“He’s going to be a really good Division I hitter,” Cape Catfish General Manager Mark Hogan said of Nazerenus. “He probably is the best ball-striker around these parts, with maybe the exception of (Missouri State outfielder Caden Bogenpohl).”

Hogan has liked the ability of Nazerenus since he was in high school, which is why he signed him to play for the Catfish for each of the past three summers.

Nazerenus hasn’t been 100 percent healthy for the Catfish or last season at Crowder College, which Hogan said is “arguably the best (junior college) program in Missouri.”

“But when he was in there,” Hogan said of Nazerenus’ freshman season last spring, “he did phenomenal things for them.”

Nazerenus hit .299 for Crowder last spring, which nearly won 50 games, as well as connected for nine home runs, drove in 28 runs, and scored 26 times in 35 games.

“He is a solid outfielder,” Hogan said. “I’m sure that he is going to work a lot harder in that area to become a Division I outfielder. He has this year to manifest that.”

Another season, another challenge for Cooter High grad

Tom Davis

Hayden Nazerenus has done nothing but challenge himself over the past 12 months since graduating from a stellar athletic career at Cooter High School.
He left the tiny school (enrollment 128) a year ago and immediately spent a couple of weeks testing his skills with the Cape Catfish but signed on for the entire season this summer.

A common theme with Nazerenus is that he always finds a way to contribute to winning baseball, as well as other sports.

Nazerenus doesn’t accept failure because it rarely happened at Cooter or with the Catfish, and it hasn’t happened at Crowder.

In high school, during his four seasons (his freshman baseball season was lost to COVID) of basketball and (three in) baseball, the 5-foot-11 athlete was on a basketball team that won 78 games, a pair of District titles (one in Class 1 and one in Class 2), and a Class 2 Sectional.

In baseball, Nazerenus was part of Wildcat teams that won 64 games, three District championships, one sectional, one quarterfinal, and finished third in the 2023 MSHSAA Class 1 Final Four.

“It’s tough to play at Crowder,” Nazerenus said of the talent level. “You have to have some tough skin to play there. I feel like (Cooter High basketball and baseball coach David Mathis) helped me with that.”

The Hilltoppers have won over 33 games in each of the past two seasons and Hogan, who is the all-time winningest coach in Southeast Missouri State baseball history, had high praise for the WKU program.

“When Western Kentucky calls in the early signing period,” Hogan said, “a school like that, which plays in a great Division I conference (Conference USA), Hayden must have done some really good things this fall when (WKU) was evaluating.

“I think the future is really bright for him.”