Reprinted with permission
From the Sioux Falls, South Dakota Argus Leader:

Softball pitcher shines

By Aaron Swenson
For the Argus Leader
Published: June 7, 2007

Last month in Chula Vista, Calif., some of the nation’s top men’s fastpitch softball players gathered to try out for the 2007 USA Softball national team.

When the dust settled, Harrisburg’s B.J. Hunhoff was still standing.

“It’s a big honor,” said the 18-year-old lefty pitcher, the youngest player to make the cut. “Most of the guys trying out were 23 and 24 years old, so I have some big shoes to fill.”

The 17-player squad will represent the United States at the Men’s Fastpitch Softball World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic, beginning June 16.

During high school, Hunhoff switched between his softball exploits and playing first base in baseball. He was also named first team all-state in soccer after helping Harrisburg win a state title.

He will continue his baseball career at the University of Sioux Falls while playing fastpitch softball wherever he can play.

“I go back and forth every week between softball and baseball,” said Hunhoff, who has also played for the Team USA junior fastpitch squad. “It seems like one night I’m playing softball, and the next night I’m playing baseball.”

Hunhoff has been working hard since his father introduced the game of softball to him at age 7. But when his father passed away (when B.J. was in third grade), Hunhoff looked to others for guidance.

“I started working with my junior coaches on pitching since I was 12, and I have been working with them ever since,” he said.

Team USA won’t start practice until three days before leaving for the World Cup. To stay sharp, Hunhoff travels between California and South Dakota, pitching in random tournaments and leagues.

“You have to do it all on your own time, and you have to be dedicated,” he said. “Your results are from your own commitment and the work you put in.”

The World Cup runs from June 16-24 in the Czech Republic, giving Hunhoff his first taste of Europe. He has only traveled as far as Canada, where he played in the World Juniors in 2005.

After returning from overseas, Team USA will compete in the KFC American Challenge Series in Oklahoma City in July. It will be the first time in more than a decade that the U.S. has hosted an international men’s fastpitch event.

“It’s supposed to be an awesome place to play,”said Hunhoff of the ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City.

And Hunhoff has earned his chance to shine, according to Tim Lyon, head coach of the USA junior fastpitch team. He has worked with Hunhoff since 2003, seeing steady progress from the pitcher.

“He has done very well for himself,” Lyon said. “We always tell our kids that we will walk along with them until we can no longer be helpful, then they must do the rest.”

The coach said that making the men’s national team at age 18 is a remarkable achievement for Hunhoff.

“I don’t know how many people have made the team at his age, but you can probably count them on one hand,” Lyon said.

Finding good young players has been a problem in USA men’s fastpitch, so Hunhoff is part of the youth movement. If all goes well, Lyon said the pitcher can probably play well into his forties.

“We selected him for the present as well as the future,” said Lyon. “Playing at this age will put him into situations that will help him out down the road.”

Editor’s note: We got our first look at BJ Hunhoff in 2005, when he was the youngest player on the USA Jr. Men, when they played in the So Cal Alliance league weekend, to help prepare for the ISF Jr. Men’s Tournament on Prince Edward Island. While some of his teammates were getting out of high school, he was barely out of middle school. But even then, you could see the potential. We saw him again recently, in January 2007, at the U.S. Olympic Training Facility in Chula Vista, once again with the Jr. Men. He had grown and matured a great deal in a couple of years, and had gone from being the youngest, to one of the oldest players on the team. Many of the other fresh faced kids were now looking up to him as a leader on the team, the way rookies in MLB look up to veterans who’ve played in the World Series. He had “been there”, having competed on the international stage. He was someone they could count on to tell them what it was like. How it was to face the likes of Canada, New Zealand and Australia. To tell them just how good the players like Adam Folkard were. And how they’d better work hard to prepare.

And now, just six months later, BJ is packing his bags for “the Show”….for ISF competition in Europe as part of the Big Club, the men’s team. Once again, BJ Hunhoff is back to being the youngest kid on the block; the kid brother whom the older kids let play. Because he can.

After reading the above article in the Sioux Falls newspaper, I read it again. The kid’s words stayed with me:

“You have to do it all on your own time, and you have to be dedicated,” he said. “Your results are from your own commitment and the work you put in.”

Words to live by — for all of us. He gets it. He understands what it takes to succeed, even at the ripe old age of 18. Wiser than his years. We’re rooting for you, kid.