How the ‘Mayor of Longwood’ helped spark Kentucky baseball to an NCAA super regional

Longwood baseball coach Chad Oxendine does not need long to think of a story that sums up Kentucky baseball first baseman Hunter Gilliam.

As Oxendine worked to instill a new culture at Longwood after being hired as head coach, he emphasized the motto, “everything matters.” Players were instructed to focus on the little things, going as far as to make sure they picked up any trash they saw on campus.

When an email arrived from a local woman Oxendine did not know, he quickly realized Gilliam, who teammates had dubbed “The Mayor” because he was playing just a few miles from where he grew up, already had the philosophy firmly ingrained in his personality.

The woman had spotted a special needs youth being bullied in the Wal-Mart parking lot. When she attempted to intervene, the youth threw his hat toward her. She picked it up and found a note written on the bottom of the bill instructing the boy to call the cell phone number written there if he ever was in trouble or needed something.

“The lady, panicking because the kid is getting bullied a little bit, calls the number,” Oxendine told the Herald-Leader this week. “Five minutes later, here comes ‘The Mayor’ in a big red truck. Hunter shows up. ... For lack of better words, he says a couple things, and those guys scatter.

“That’s Hunter Gilliam. That’s who to us here at Longwood is the biggest example of ‘everything matters.’ We’re trying to treat people the right way, we try to do things the right way on and off the field, and Hunter Gilliam is one of the biggest assets and example of that.”

Gilliam received recruiting interest in high school from multiple small programs, but the chance to stay home and play for Longwood was enough to convince him to commit early in his high school career to play for the Lancers as a walk-on. He refers to Oxendine, who recruited him to Longwood as an assistant then returned to Longwood as the program’s head coach before Gilliam’s senior season, as a second father.

In four seasons at Longwood, Gilliam hit .271 with 20 home runs in 162 games. Along the way he added significant muscle to his 6-foot-2 frame.

When faced with the decision of whether to use the extra year of eligibility granted all players in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gilliam began to wonder if he would be better served playing against tougher competition at a Power Five program. Leaving his home was difficult, but Gilliam knew another challenge was needed.

Recruiting interest was much higher when he entered the transfer portal than in high school, but the emphasis Kentucky coaches placed on pursuing him while some other programs asked him to delay a decision until they finished their 2022 season stood out. He pledged to the Wildcats as one of 12 transfers from four-year colleges to sign as part of the 2022 recruiting class.

After arriving at Kentucky, Gilliam quickly proved the leadership skills evident at Longwood could translate to the SEC.

“He’s literally shown up every single day and just been committed to doing whatever it takes to win,” Kentucky Coach Nick Mingione said. “This team is not where we’re at without him. His attention to detail and his mentality to win has been contagious.”

When the season started, Gilliam’s infectious personality, power bat and stellar defense at first base endeared him to fans at Kentucky Proud Park. Entering the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament super regional at LSU, Gilliam leads the team in home runs (12) and RBI (71). He ranks second on the team in batting average (.324) and was named to the SEC’s All-Defensive Team.

Gilliam tallied six hits in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. His three-run home run in a Sunday elimination game helped spark the Wildcats to a 16-6 blowout of Indiana. The next night, Gilliam’s double down the third base line drove home what ended up being the winning runs in the regional final.

“It’s been a dream come true for me,” Gilliam said. “The past four years of my life, I’m watching this process go down from the house and I’m sitting there like, man, I want to be a part of that. I want to be a part of that so bad. To just be able to live that out has been everything I could ever dream of.”

Gilliam never even played in a conference tournament game at Longwood as the Lancers went 52-119 in his four seasons there.

“He’s just extremely grateful for the opportunity,” Mingione said. “There’s not a day that goes by where he’s just not so thankful to be able to put a jersey on and play baseball, play in front of the Big Blue Nation. He loves the Big Blue Nation, but I think the Big Blue Nation has loved him back.

“That’s really neat to see for a guy that a year ago is at Longwood. Now he’s doing it at the highest level in the greatest league in America.”

Gilliam calls his decision to play for Kentucky “the best decision of my whole life,” but he also still carries the lessons learned from Longwood and the Farmville, Virginia, community with him.

Oxendine has checked in multiple times this season, reminding Gilliam to fall back on his ever-present work ethic. The Longwod coach admits to some bittersweetness in watching his best player shine for the Wildcats, but mostly he is happy for his former star.

“He is like a son to me and I want nothing but the best for him,” Oxendine said. “That day when he came in (to say he was transferring), he was in tears. He was in tears and he said, ‘Coach, I just feel like I’ve got to do something different.’ I was in tears saying it back to him: ‘I agree. You need to get on out of here, man, and explore, go on another adventure.’

“He went on that adventure to Big Blue Nation. I let you guys borrow him for a year, and I think he did everything and even more than what was expected.”

This weekend

Kentucky at LSU

What: NCAA Baseball Tournament super regional

When: Saturday through Monday

Where: Alex Box Stadium (capacity 10,326) at Baton Rouge, La.

Format: Best-of-three series

At stake: Winner advances to College World Series June 15-26 at Omaha, Neb.

Baton Rouge Super Regional schedule

Saturday — Game 1 (3 p.m., ESPN)

Sunday — Game 2 (Time, TV TBA)

Monday (if necessary) — Game 3 (Time, TV TBA)

This UK star didn’t speak English or know what college baseball was only a few years ago

‘We can beat them.’ Storylines to watch in Kentucky baseball vs. LSU

How to watch LSU vs. Kentucky baseball: Game times, TV channels, streaming

‘They’re not done.’ Why historic night might not be high point for UK baseball.

Hey, John Calipari and Mark Stoops: This year, Kentucky is a baseball school