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That's the
journey that Josh Hendricks will be making next year when he sets off on his
dream of making it all the way to the Major Leagues. First stop - Ft Myers,
Florida spring training home of the famous Minnesota Twins Baseball Club.
The Twins are the club that gave Aussies Grant Balfour, Brad Thomas and
fellow Melbournian Michael Nakamura their Major League starts. The other
connection is that all of these players were signed by the Twins experienced
scout Howie Norsetter who also calls Melbourne home after moving here from
the US a number of years ago.
Howie has
been scouting Josh for a couple of years now. That's not surprising
considering that Josh has a long history of State representation starting
with the Rubbber Ball team to Japan in 2003 then playing for Australia with
the Carl Ripken team in 2004 and Victoria in the U14's U16's & U18's
following which he was sent to the MLB funded Academy on the Gold Coast.
He pitched well enough at the Academy to gain a coveted place in the
Australian AA [U17] team.
"That
Australian AA team selection was fantastic but getting a scholarship to the
VIS [the kindergarten for so many young professionals] was a huge part of my
development as a player" - There he worked under the very
experienced Matthew Sheldon-Collins and then Damian Shanahan and improved
his hitting technique and continued to gain strength through their demanding
gym program. It proved to be a winning combination and soon had the scouts
watching his development closely.
"I
began playing at the age of 6 at the Waverley Baseball Club following in the
footsteps of my brother Donavon and I have been lucky that coach Phil Dale
has given me so many opportunities to develop my game there, especially
giving me the chance to play 1st Division which certainly helped me improve
my game" he said from his Melbourne home. His brother Donavon and his
family were a great influence on his development of course and having
Donavon in professional baseball during his formative years gave him an
important insight into the world of pro ball.
It was
whilst playing for Waverley in 1st Division this season that Howie saw what
he was looking for, a powerful presence at the plate with the ability to hit
the long ball. A 6 figure bonus and college scholarship eventuated and he
signed on the dotted line this week.
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