ORANGEFIELD, Texas — Orangefield Bobcat baseball is a force to reckoned with once again sitting at 13-3 so far this season finding success behind senior pitcher Jason Bodin.
“He’s our big game pitcher," Bobcat head coach Tim Erickson said. You know, if there’s one game we’ve got circled on the schedule, you know, it’s gonna be challenging for us, we know he’s gonna get the ball so he’s looking forward to everyone one of those types of ballgames, and I think he’s accepted the challenge."
Yeah, he’s our number one on the mound for sure,” Coach Erickson said.
Number one on the mound is exactly what Bodin prepped his life whole to be.
“My whole life I’ve always wanted to be an MLB star, and well, first thing’s first, you just gotta put the work in," Bodin said. "I saw early on, I saw my arm starting to kind of take over everything and then freshman year came around and then that’s when I really saw it”
From then on things got serious for Bodin. He put in extra time in the weight room and focused on where he placed the ball.
“Comparing him to some of the guys we have this year it’s kind of fun to see," Coach Erickson said. You know he’s up 92, 93 miles an hour now and just started out as, I think, 82 as a freshman, so that’s neat to watch.”
All the years of hard work have earned him a spot at Texas A&M where he can continue to chase his dreams on the diamond.
“That’s been my dream since I was really young, probably since I was born, and I’m just looking to go to Omaha when I get there," Bodin said. "That’s my biggest, biggest dream.”
“He’s a leader for us first of all so that’s good for him to kind of take on that responsibility going to go play at a big school like A&M," Coach Erickson. "I think that’s gonna benefit him once he gets into that role and we just want to go and have the best season we can. We wanna end the last game of the year with a win so that would be big for us, big for him and we’re excited about it.”