Friday, December 18, 2009

The Devil in Josh Spence






It’s almost Christmas and the Defensive Specialist always delivers at this time of the year. As a special treat, the Defensive Specialist cued up the Deep in the Hole video conferencing equipment and sat down to talk turkey with arguably Australia’s most successful college baseball player – Josh Spence.


Spence put up insane numbers while playing at Central Arizona College (Junior College), becoming a two-time winner of the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference player of the year as well as a two-time All American. He went 27-7, with 9 saves and a 1.40 ERA while striking out 327 hitters.


Central Arizona:


Year
ERA
G
GS
W
L
SV
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
2007
1.10
20
16
13
3
2
131.1
86
23
16
24
149
2008
1.69
27
17
14
4
7
138.2
109
37
26
19
178
TOTAL
1.40
47
33
27
7
9
270.0
196
60
42
43
327


These successes led to Spence being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 25th round of the 2008 draft. Instead of joining the ranks of professional baseball, he chose to play for Arizona State University, where as a junior he earned Third Team All American honours. Spence posted a 10-1 record with 1 save and a 2.37 ERA while punching out 125 batters. He was named National Newcomer of the Year by Rivals.com




Arizona State:


Year
ERA
G
GS
CG
W
L
SV
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
2009
2.37
18
15
2
10
1
1
102.2
93
34
27
39
125


Following the 2009 season Spence was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 3rd round of the Major League draft. He chose to turn down the Angels to return to ASU.


Here’s Josh’s bio at Arizona State:




Alright, enough of the build up, lets get into it……



  •  Josh, Can you provide some background to your baseball career?



I grew up playing for the Geelong Baycats and Guild Lions who were both quality baseball clubs and the perfect stepping stones to enable me to be both a consistent baseballer and a model citizen. I was very fortunate to represent my state and country at all different levels throughout my junior years, taking me not only all over Australia but also all over the world. I spent two years at Central Arizona Junior College where my eyes were opened to how big baseball really is in America and how valuable it is to have a “plan B” in this game. After experiencing great success in a real team orientated environment, not to mention being lucky enough to receive some individual accolades, I was drafted in the 25th round to the Diamondbacks but had to respectfully decline as playing baseball at the Division 1 level at such a powerhouse university was something I had to do, that powerhouse university being the Arizona State Sun Devils. After achieving something never been done before in my conference (the PAC10) I was part of the team that won 3 consecutive PAC10 titles competing against teams like UCLA, USC, Stanford and Oregon State. Once getting a bid to be one of 60 teams to make the playoffs this is where the fun really started thus began the “road to Omaha”. After beating teams like Oral Roberts and Cal Poly we then became one of 16 teams left in bracket play and hosted Clemson with the winner going to the CWS (College World Series). We clinched in two and made it to Omaha where we ended up placing third. Once the summer came around I had another tough decision to make as I was drafted in the 3rd round (110th pick overall) to the Angels. My ultimate goal is to play in the big leagues but having the chance to compete in Omaha yet again with the Devils, and finishing off my degree in Sociology and Education, was more life changing to me then starting my professional career so I decided to come back to school. It’s a decision I don’t regret one bit and I have enjoyed every minute of coming back to school, I'm on track to graduate in May 2010 and been named co-captain of the Sun Devils which are both achievements I'm very proud of. Right now I'm just getting ready to win it all.


  •  How did you end up in Junior College in Arizona?



This is a question I get asked a lot. My story is very lucky but as my coach here at ASU says, “everything happens for a reason”. I attended a baseball camp here in Tempe, Arizona after I graduated high school, a pitcher/ catcher camp to be precise, and as I was pitching in the camp there was a coach from Central Arizona JC in the stands watching (as he is Alumni at ASU and decided to see what was going on). After he saw me pitch and heard ASU weren’t going to offer me anything because they felt going to JC (junior college) route was in my best interests, he easily persuaded me to sign with Central Arizona and that’s how it all began.



  •  You had great success individually while playing junior college baseball, what key differences stood out for you between Australia and the US?



I think the biggest difference was work ethic; baseball is an everyday sport and those kids worked at it every day. I think a big misconception here in Australia is that college is the route you take when you haven’t received an opportunity professionally, that’s not the case, American kids want to go to college not only for the college experience but to ultimately get better at baseball. But when you’re offered 7 figured contracts out of high school that’s something you can’t turn down. What I'm trying to say is that the players in college work hard and they have fun doing it, it frustrates me when good Australian baseballers come to college and they throw away the opportunity because they’re too busy participating in the college experience so to say. It’s hard but it’s fun and most definitely worthwhile.


  • You now play for a national powerhouse – Arizona State University. What other schools recruited you and why did you decide to attend ASU?



The truth is I didn’t really give anyone else an opportunity to recruit me, being in ASU’s backyard. I was able to see the program from the outside looking in and from what I saw, I wanted to be a Sun Devil more than anything. The passion and relentlessness with which the players played sold me and when ASU offered me an opportunity to play it didn’t take me to long to say yes and sign my letter of intent there.


  •  Can you describe campus life at a nationally regarded university?



Arizona State has the second highest student population (behind Ohio State) in the country, with 60,000+ students its crazy. I can’t begin to describe how much fun it is going to big football games and standing in the student section or rushing the court with a big basketball win, not to mention the parties. It’s all fun but my purpose here is to win a national championship for the Sun Devils and that’s the great thing about our ball club - that we don’t get sidetracked from what our goal is and we all know why we came here. If you get caught up in “all that” it’s bad news and it can consume your precious time here as a student-athlete. I'm having a great time here at ASU but I would rather look back and say I wish I partied more than looking back and regretting not working hard enough.



  •  How do you find the academic component of being a student athlete and what are you studying?



I'm just going to be honest and say that you have to try to fail a class. It’s really that simple and especially if you’re a student-athlete.
We have our own study hall where no one else is allowed in unless you play sport at the school, if you need a tutor you just ask your advisor and they’ll be one waiting for you in the next 30 minutes in any class you need. There’s essentially all the help you need, and even though we have early mornings and long days it’s really inexcusable to not pass your classes. I've been taking 5-6 classes every semester since I've been over here which is a big work load but I feel at the same time that the busier I am the better I do (and ultimately the less trouble I'm in). I'm studying sociology and education.


  •  What are fall workouts like at a Division 1 baseball program?



They’re tough but purposeful. I think back home you hear stories about college sports and how crazy the workouts can be. I think being at such a nationally regarded university and having an incredible list of Alumni (guys like Pedroia, Ethier, Buck, Lo Duca, Bonds I mean the list goes on) we get quality strength and conditioning training. Being a pitcher you would think I do a lot of running, which is true but not long distance. Pitching is such an explosive activity that I don’t want to slow my body down by conditioning it the wrong way by doing long distance running, a lot of my running has to do with agility type work as well as in the gym. Each program is individually made for each player and for me being where I'm at, I don’t need to put on weight, I need to be healthy to throw 100+ innings a year and 200+ when I'm playing professional baseball so you’re never going see me doing heavy lifts but purposeful training with explosiveness.



  •  What sort of conditioning and lifting do you under take?



As I said a lot of my training has to do with not only explosiveness but also conditioning the muscles for longevity. We have a great pitching coach at ASU in fact I've had two great pitching coaches here at ASU so far, the first was Josh Holliday who is Matt Holliday’s brother and gave great insight on the mental side of baseball. This year we have Ken Knutson who is “famous” for coaching pitching superstar Tim Lincecum and comes with great knowledge of pitching and how to prepare for each outing. Ken has us doing a lot of bands, which are called “body shaping” drills, and throwing with heavy balls. All the exercises we do not only condition our arms and shoulders but implement our core thus creating velocity behind what we throw. For someone like me, Velocity isn’t what my main objective would be but these exercises are great in my case for “flushing” the body of lactic acid after a start or in the right dosage, getting loose to play catch.


Tune in Monday for Part 2


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