Hamblet, from Olympia, Washington, played for the Aberdeen Ironbirds and the Delmarva Shorebirds in Single A. In his minor league career, he won 13 games as pitcher. Last season, he went 9-3 for Delmarva with 67 strikeouts in 30 appearances. In 2006, with Delmarva, he recorded 91 strikeouts in 135 innings pitched.

The standout pitcher from Biola University was a NAIA All-American in the 2005 season while also being named as the NAIA Champions of Character award winner for Biola. In that same season, the GSAC (Golden State Athletic Conference) named him the Pitcher of the Year, was on the All-GSAC team and picked up the GSAC and NAIA Regional Pitcher of the Week once. He won eight games and recorded a 2.92 ERA. Another highlight of his collegiate career came in his freshman season of 2003 when Biola participated in the NAIA World Series.   In three years with Biola, he won 22 games.

In the summer of 2004, Hamblet had a chance to pitch in the Alaskan Summer League for the Alaska Goldpanners. He pitched in eight games while starting seven and led the team with 55 strikeouts.