Griffin-area baseball player Miles Head was promoted Thursday to the Class AA Midland Rockhounds of the Texas League. Drafted in 2009 by the Boston Red Sox and traded three days after Christmas 2011 to the Oakland A’s as a part of the Jonathan Papelbon trade, Head left his mark in High-Class A with the Stockton Ports in the California League this season.

By the time of his departure Thursday, the 6-foot, 215-pound right-handed slugger led the California League in average (.382), on-base percentage (.433), slugging percentage (.715), OPS (1149), hits (102) and total bases (191), while being tied for the league in homers (18) and tied for third in doubles (23) and triples (6).

For his prowess, the third baseman was named a starter in the Carolina/California All-Star Game played earlier this week in Winston-Salem. The former Whitewater High standout was also named the California League Player of the Week for June 11-17 in addition to receiving the May Topps Player of the Month Award.

During the week of June 11-17, Head was 14-for-28 in seven games with a .500 batting average and a .533 on-base percentage with 3 doubles, 6 home runs and 11 RBIs. The Brooks, Ga., resident ended May on an 11-game hitting streak in leading the California League with a .394 batting average during which time he also led the circuit in on-base percentage (.471), slugging (.683) and OPS (1.153) while collecting hits in 24 of 27 games.

After hitting a modest 11 homers in his first 56 games, Head took off in his last 10 games with the Ports by batting .462 with .512 on-base percentage and 7 home runs. Head, who hit 22 home runs last year in the Boston chain, had a similar mid-season promotion when he went from the Greensboro (N.C.) Grasshoppers in the Low-A South Atlantic League to Salem (Va.) in the High-A Carolina League in 2011.

Head, 21, will be one of the youngest players by a year on his new team.

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GT SCORES HIGH

ATLANTA – The Academic Progress Report, released Wednesday by the NCAA, indicates that Georgia Tech’s APR scores have improved once again. All teams exceeded the NCAA requirement for postseason eligibility of a 930 APR.

This year 12 of the 17 Yellow Jacket sports teams — up from 10 teams last year —either improved their multi-year APR or saw its score remain the same, compared to last year’s report. Three Tech teams – golf, women’s cross country, and men’s tennis – posted perfect multi-year scores of 1,000.

The APR numbers released Wednesday are based on a multi-year rate that averages scores from the 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years. APR is calculated by assessing each scholarship student-athlete’s retention and eligibility each semester. To receive a perfect score of 1,000 each team’s student-athletes must meet the NCAA retention and eligibility guidelines.

“We are pleased to once again see strong scores and improvements in our Academic Progress Rates,” athletic director Dan Radakovich said. “It is a testament to the quality and efforts of our student-athletes, our academic support staff, and coaches.”