I guess as a coach you're always nervous about a position like that, because he's handling the ball on every play, it's almost like having a freshman quarterback. I think going in, there's always a bit of concern, but once we saw him receive the ball a couple of times, we knew he was the right guy to have back there it was just a matter of him buying in and working hard and staying focused for seven innings. He's a quick learner ... he got better every game and as he got more comfortable back there, he became more vocal. |
Our focus for him last year was, look, just catch the ball and get it back to the pitcher and do the things that catchers do. And then if you hit, wonderful. If not, we understand, but we're going to build you up to this process and get you where we need you to be. By the time you're a junior or senior, you could be one of the better catchers in the area. |
Some guys in the lower part of the order got a hit. When those guys get involved in the offense, it really helps. The guys at the top have been swinging it well, and you get production out of the bottom guys that makes it all that much better. |
We've got to have a guy that can obviously do some things other than try to hit bombs for us. You have such a variety of pitchers in high school ... you've got to be able to handle a lot of different people and know what's going on around you and keep people in the right spots. |