A: Absolutely. Taking the things I learned
my first year, and allowing my body to
develop put me in the perfect position to
be the most effective pitcher I could be
this year.
Q: What did you noticed first about the
players you play with and against once
you started playing college baseball vs.
High School?
A: College baseball is a whole new level.
If you make a mistake on the mound and
miss your spot, most of the time it's going
to get hit and get hit hard. I definitely had a
learning curve throughout the fall with that
realization, but once I figured it out, my
year went very smoothly.
Q: What does your typical “non-game
day” look like for you?
A: A typical non-game day usually starts
with an early morning team lift followed by
breakfast. Most of the time I would have
class soon after that until about mid-day.
After lunch, we would usually practice for
a couple hours. Once practice was done,
some days I would go workout again if I
didn't have night class. To wrap up the day
I would usually do some homework or just
hang out with the teammates.
Q: This year your season started Jan
30th and ended with Tyler winning the
JUCO DIII Championship on May 27th about 50 games. With all those games
during the season, you miss classes.
How do you stay "on top" of that
keeping your grades up?
A: Time management is a huge deal.
Learning how to set time aside for you to
get your work done is the most important
thing. Especially if you know you are going
to miss class or won't be able to work on
the assignment that night because of a
game. It's definitely a trial and error kind of
thing, but you will get the hang of it.
Q: You’re there to play baseball, but
first is the education. How does the
baseball program support your
education?
A: Our coaches had us complete study
hall hours in the fall and most of the guys
had them in the spring as well. Our
coaches didn't cut us any slack in the
classroom. That was first priority over
baseball or anything else. If you didn't
perform in the classroom then you weren't
going to get to perform on the field.
Q: Are your
grades better in
high school or
college?
A: They have
relatively been
the same
although my
GPA in college
has actually
been higher.
That's another
benefit of JUCO is that the school side of it
is usually much easier than a four year
school would be. Time management is the
biggest factor. Learning how to make time
to do your work will set you up for
success.
Q: What overall advice would you pass
on to a High School player wanting to
play college baseball?
A: Set goals: If you know exactly what
you want out of your college baseball
experience, then find a path that will get
you there and work your butt off to achieve
those goals.
Be realistic: I had to face the fact that I
was just not good enough out of high
school to go where I always dreamed. So I
worked hard and found a path that would
get me there and stuck to it.
Give glory to God: Without God's grace, I
wouldn't be where I am today. He has
blessed me continually throughout this
experience, and I owe him all of the credit.