Backroads and Ballfields: UCSB Lands Two-Way Talent Dax Hyde
By Daniel Wilson ·
A Commitment Mid-Rehab
Dax Hyde made his college decision in the middle of a rehab. The Mission Hills High School junior, a right-handed pitcher and infielder from Oceanside, Calif., committed to UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 19, a little over three months after Tommy John surgery.
"They are very successful at getting guys drafted and are great with pitchers and development," Hyde told The Coast News. "They've also believed in me with Tommy John and that means a lot to me."
The Injury
Hyde hurt his elbow in May, pitching against Torrey Pines. A fourth-inning slider left his elbow feeling off, though it didn't hurt. An MRI the next day showed a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, and he had surgery on July 9.
He kept hitting the rest of the season but did not throw again. He has started upper-body lifting, his first throwing session is planned for Jan. 9, and Mission Hills coach Griffin Teisher expects him to hit for the team this spring and return to the mound next summer.
The Sophomore Season
Before the injury, Hyde hit .320 with 33 hits, 11 doubles, five home runs and 22 RBIs. On the mound he struck out 63 in 45 innings, and opponents hit .210 against him. Mission Hills went 17-15 and finished second in the Palomar League at 10-5.
He is 6-foot-4 and also played guard on the basketball team his first two years of high school. He's giving that up now. "I just want to focus on baseball now," he said.
The Fit
Teisher sees UCSB as the right place on both counts. "UCSB is a great match for him as one of the top baseball schools on the west coast as well as academically as a very prestigious UC school," he said. "We hope this is just the start to a very long baseball career for him."
Teisher also expects Hyde to both pitch and hit in Santa Barbara.
The Gauchos under Andrew Checketts have a strong track record with pitchers. The school counts 76 draft picks in his tenure, 41 of them pitchers. Tyler Bremner went second overall to the Angels in 2025, and Jackson Flora went fourth overall to the Giants in 2026, giving UCSB the first pitcher taken in back-to-back drafts.
Hyde joins a UCSB 2028 class made up entirely of Californians, with Joshua Calcanas, Griffin Doane, Zak Flinn, Eli Martinez, Austin Rider, Owen Goulet and Steven Genovese III also committed.
The Work
Neil Jamison, who coached Hyde as a freshman, pointed to his habits. "I think the end goal for him is definitely professional baseball, and he has the ability to get there," Jamison said. He described Hyde as "an incredibly hard worker" who is "rigid with his routines."
His father, Danny, traced it to when Dax was 14. "When he decided at 14 that he didn't just want to play baseball but be a baseball player, he's dedicated himself day in and day out," he said.