Baseball Scholarship

It is the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded. A hush rolls over the crowd as senior William Hancock steps up to the plate. This at-bat, however, was decided long before its time.

“In the off-season I put in about ten hours a week doing actual baseball activity, plus a few hours doing baseball-specific workouts,” said Hancock. “During the season I add a few hours to that, so about thirteen hours a week outside of original practice.”

With all the work Hancock puts in for baseball, he still manages to set an example for younger players.

“Will is a good leader out on the field,” said sophomore Connor Breau, “He really gives you the confidence to make the extra play and do the work.”

“Will has given me some great advice on technique,” said sophomore catcher Luke Wewers. “I have really taken his advice on what college schools to look at and, from a catching standpoint, technique and footwork.”

Unfortunately, baseball hasn’t always been sunshine and daisies for Hancock.

“I had to give up football,” said Hancock. “I had elbow surgery due to baseball my freshman year. The doctor told me that if I were to play football, I would have to wear a protective brace and I could reinjure my elbow and never be able to play baseball again. So I had to hang football up.”

Scholarships are especially hard to obtain in baseball, but Hancock’s advice on getting one comes down to a single word: “work.”

“You have to put a lot of work in outside of original practices. You have to have the motivation to do it on your own,” he said. “The normal high school practice of a couple of hours a night will not cut it if you want to play college baseball. It takes a lot more.”

“Being exposed to better talent has probably prepared me best for college baseball,” said Hancock. “Traveling and playing against better competition throughout the country has made me a lot better. Also there are a lot of scouts at the games in the summer, so I was exposed more as a player.”

“Seeing Will play I try to play with more confidence. And the way he plays like it’s no big deal really affects my skill level,” said Wewers.

+ posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *