By Josh:
Who influenced you to play baseball?
My dad. He was a college D-1 coach for 17 years. So it was just kind of in my blood. As far as I can remember I’ve always played baseball. I probably swung the bat when I was 1 year old. It was good, he was my travel ball coach growing up and he actually became my high school baseball coach. There was also a lot of friends and family there to support me.
Growing up who was there a favorite player that you may have mimicked there swing or how they threw the ball?
Well my favorite player was a left handed right fielder, named Tony Gwynn who I’m sure people have heard of. He is an outfielder, I’m an infielder, I’m right handed and he is left handed. So nothing really about mimicking but just the way he could hit was my favorite thing to watch. My dad coached him at San Diego St. and I thought it was so cool. My dad knows him so I know him. He was just such a good hitter. He had an idea of what the pitcher was throwing before he through it. That’s what inspired me to learn the game of baseball instead of just playing it.
What was it like playing at top college baseball programs (Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach St.)?
It was great. You’re surrounded by guys that all want to go play baseball. You’re playing against the best teams in the nation every weekend. I don’t think we ever played a team that as not good. Just the experience of meeting new people, meeting friends, going to new ball parks, going to new parts of the country. Played at Texas A&M as well as Florida. Seeing what baseball does in people lives was the most impactful thing for me. This is a sport but it also brings people together. It was just awesome to see that.
Who was the best player you played against?
I say Christian Colon was one of the best I played against. I was at Long beach while he was at Fullerton. Just to watch the way he played the game. He was a great player and you just knew he was going to make the play if it was hit to short.
One of my teammate’s brothers is Ben Orloff, I think he is still playing minor league ball, but just to watch him play. It’s kind of the guys that do the little things in baseball that I liked the most and he was defiantly that type of player.
What was the reason that you transferred to Corban?
I thought that my career was over. I played three seasons and sat out one year due to violations and I thought my seasons were done. Then I got contacted by a few people saying I might have a year of NAIA ball left. Plus my wife had been going to school up here and we were going to move up here. Honestly I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. The guys are awesome, the coaches are awesome. It’s just good to be around baseball players that have the same beliefs as I do. So it’s great to be here.
What are you goals for senior year?
Have some fun. I’d love to be on a team that gets to the national championship. I think that would be the first time that we (Corban) would get there. The goals are to meet some nice guys that I can grow a friendship with and obviously win some baseball games. Last year they had a great year under Coach McKay, so in his second year just continuing to keep things going, win some games and have some fun.
How has faith impacted you as a baseball player?
You know it’s great because I understand that baseball is just a sport and it’s not life. I’ve had some previous things in my life help me out with that but my faith has been able to allow me to take it to that next level of being able to understand that it’s just a strike or its just an error. It’s not life or death. My faith has been able to help me get through the negative situations and get onto those positive ones.