Young B.J. Hunhoff makes Team USA roster

[Al's Fastball News]

Received: 6/12/07 5:32:24 PM 
From:  "Jim Flanagan" <jim(at)fastpitchwest.com> 


   
Subject:  Young B.J. Hunhoff makes Team USA roster  


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Story below reprinted with permission from the Sioux Falls, South
Dakota Argus Leader:

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070607/SPORTS/706070337/1002

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."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


We've posted a photo of B.J. Hunhoff at Fastpitchwest, along
with a
short personal note of my own:
http://fastpitchwest.com/morningbrief/?p=1700

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.

(BJ will be with Team USA at the upcoming World Cup 2007, in
Prague,
Czech Republic, June 18-24, 2007)


-- 
best regards,
Jim Flanagan
Editor, Fastpitchwest
www.fastpitchwest.co  

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