things to say about the coaches and the school. The coaching staff had a huge impact on my decision. I liked every single one of them and they all seemed excited to get me on their team. Lastly, for being a Community College, Cumberland has one of the top academic programs in the country. Getting a great education was at the top of the list for me.
Q: What did you noticed first about the players you play with and against in high school vs. players in college?
A: Players in high school were just playing baseball to play baseball. There was only a select few of high school players that actually wanted to go on and play in college. Most kids played just so they didn’t disappoint their families or because their parents were pretty much making them play. In college there is a huge difference. Most of the players in the NJCAA are playing to receive a scholarship to another school afterward. The game is played at a much faster pace in college. The things you could get away with in high school you can no longer get away with in college. Everything has to be increased by a couple of levels if you really want to win and succeed in college baseball.
Q: You were recruited to be a pitcher but your freshman year you had some shoulder issues and ended up being medically redshirted. How did you cope with that?
A: It was definitely hard to cope with at first, because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to play all year. It’s hard to watch the players on your team play when you so badly want to be out there with them, but as a team player the only thing you can do is cheer them on. Going into college though I wasn’t as physically fit as I or the coaches wanted me to be. So I took this time to get myself in shape for the upcoming year. While the team would be practicing inside I would be upstairs in the gym running on the treadmill and lifting weights. At the beginning of that year I weighed about 240 pounds, and by then end of the year I weighed in at 180 pounds.
Q: You had a very successful first year there at Florida Tech. What do you attribute that to?
A: I would attribute my success to a multitude of things. It started with the help I received while at FAU from ex-major leaguer Jeff Fiorentino, who helped me create a quicker and more compact swing path. I also went off and played summer ball after my freshman year in the NYCBL. This was huge for me, getting to play every inning of 52 straight games helped me put to use everything I had been working on at FAU and help find out what kind of player I was. Once I stepped onto the Florida Tech campus I was well received by the players and the coaching staff which made the transition easy. Finally, Coach Berkemeier made it extremely comfortable for me to play loosely and confidently.
weights. At the beginning of that year I weighed about 240 pounds, and by then end of the year I weighed in at 180 pounds.
Q: Since coming back, you have moved from being a pitcher to a catcher. Why the transition?
A: I knew after my shoulder injury that I was not going to be able to pitch anymore. The repetition of throwing the baseball as hard as I could was only going to do more damage to my shoulder. So during the offseason I talked to Coach Gorman and he said he was going to give me a shot in the field at 3rd base. As the season was rolling around we had another talk, he said that there was going to be a lot of infielders coming out in the fall. He then told me the catchers that he recruited all bailed and there was going to be a lot of at bats at the catcher’s position. He asked me if I thought I could do it, and I told him of course. I just wanted a chance to get on the field to prove to people what I could do, if that was my shot then of course I was going to give it a chance.
Q: How tough was it to make the transition to catcher?
A: It was definitely not easy, but I used to catch back in Little League. I was about
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8-9 when I first gave it a chance, but this was no comparison to how much harder it is to catch college pitchers. In Little League you didn’t really have to block the balls, but in college I really had to work hard on my blocking skills. I’ve only had one full year catching, so I am trying to improve every day.