Young USA Junior Players Ready for ISF Jr. World Championships

Seventh in a series of Player Profiles of USA Jr. National team members, who will be competing in the ISF Jr. World Championships at Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, June 20-29, 2009. Ballparkradio will be broadcasting from Whitehorse, June 26-29, 2008.

#5 B.J. Hunhoff
Height: 6′ 0″
Position: Pitcher – L/L
Hometown: Harrisburg, South Dakota
2479 miles from Whitehorse

Did You Know?

• Born April 13, 1989
• Plays baseball for the University of Sioux Falls
• What inspires you to play softball? “I just love the competition and it is a game I have played since I was little.”
• Favorite pro team: Arizona Diamondbacks
• Dream career: Opening up a softball academy in the Midwest
• Favorite Quote: “Live life to the fullest, you never know when it is going to end.”
• Hero: My dad and my grandpa

Accomplishments

2007 USA Softball Men’s National Team
• Finished second at ISF Men’s World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic
• Finished first in inaugural American Challenge Series

2007 ASA 18U Sioux Falls Rookies
• National Champions

2007 ISC 19U McDermotts of Baltimore
• National Champions
• Named league’s Most Valuable Pitcher

2007 NAFA 23U Kegel Knights of Fargo, N.D.
• National Champions
• Named division’s Most Valuable Player

Coach’s Corner

“Hard throwing left-hander who is considered one of the top young American hurlers. Won every major title in age group tournaments in 2007, including the ASA 18-under, ISC 19-under, and NAFA 23-under.”

— Coach Gary Mullican

Editor’s Notes:

Links to other coverage of BJ Hunhoff here at Fastpitchwest:

BJ Hunhoff – Carroll Forbes Scholarship Recipient

B.J. Hunhoff makes Team USA roster
We added some Editor’s notes to this story, reprinted after the jump.

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Editor’s notes: 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.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 5:13 pm and is filed under ISF, Players, Youth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.