On his toes playing second base, the pitcher throws and the batter sends it right up the middle of the infield. He takes three quick steps and dives to grab the grounder; then pops up and makes the leaping throw to first.

Senior Aaron Hedrick makes this play, amongst a multitude of others, daily as a starting second baseman for the Eagles.

Like many boys while growing up, Hedrick’s interest in the game began as a kid. Ever since, he has participated in numerous leagues as it continues to be his favorite sport.

“I’ve been playing since I was three years old,” Hedrick said. “The first team I was on was when I was seven and I would later play in different leagues around the city, travel teams and all-star teams. However, once my season was over for one team, I was always looking for another to join.”

Hedrick’s father, Bob, and older brothers, Jarett, Michael and Derek, who played in high school at Kingsburg High School, sparked his desire for the sport. On weekends they also went out to empty diamonds taking grounders or working on batting.

“My dad pushed us in whatever sport we played, which helped us get better,” Hedrick said. “He would take us to baseball fields and my brothers would practice with me and help me out. I’ve always looked up to all three of them.”

Bob coached Hedrick most of the time for all-star teams, school leagues and wrestling. He would also even take time off work to spend it with his son on the field.

“He has always helped me get better,” Hedrick said. “He spends weekends with me and takes vacation time from work just to help me and prepare me for high school and college ball.”

Other than Hedrick’s father, head baseball coach Bill McGowen has aided him in becoming a more adept player.

“McGowen helped me get better a lot the past year and a half,” Hedrick said. “He’ll tell me if my form is wrong and show me how to improve my swing, base running, and defense on the field. He has also held high expectations for me and has been holding me to them.”

As lead-off hitter, Hedrick is supposed to be patient at the plate, let the team see the pitcher’s tactics and start the inning off well. Most of the time he not only does this, but gets a single or double and then once on, steals a base or two. According to McGowen, Hedrick has the “perfect body for a lead-off hitter”.

“Aaron’s best attributes are his surprising gap power and game-changing quickness, offensively, and his athleticism defensively,” McGowen said. “Pitchers see his small strike zone and think he might be up there to just take a walk and then steal bases. They are usually in for a rude awakening when they throw some strikes and he pounds the ball, because he is a very aggressive hitter.”

However, when Hedrick first arrived at FC baseball, McGowen and him had some differences.

“When he first got here, our “styles” conflicted like oil and water,” McGowen said. “He was shirts un-tucked and ‘flat-bills’ and I was creased collars and IBM. But after spending a lot of time with him in football and baseball, I have learned that inside that cool-guy facade is a great young man with a heart for Jesus who is tough as nails who will run through a brick wall for you if the game is on the line.”

Shortstop Ryan Neufeld, ’12, considers Hedrick his best friend on the team, and they often collaborate on the diamond.

“Aaron is fun to play with, he’s like my best buddy on the team and we work really well together,” Neufeld said. “We’ll mess around and have fun, but we can get serious too.”

In addition to baseball, Hedrick snowboards and unicycles on the weekends or breaks.

“I go up snowboarding with friends at Sierra Summit,” Hedrick said, “and I also unicycle with one of my brother’s best friends.”

Hedrick unicycles with Joe Campbell, who is ranked number two in North American uni-cycling. They often ride throughout the city together on weekends, jumping over various obstacles.

“We ride around town and try to find lines [a combination of obstacles to jump or ride over] to ride,” Hedrick said. “It could be from jumping up stairs to jumping off stair cases and roofs. We also ride on rails and pretty much jump on anything. Sometimes we jump on picnic tables or fire hydrants and different obstacles. It’s a really fun hobby and I love trying to get better and better everyday that I ride.”

Hedrick counts both this and the previous seasons as his favorites so far, but maintains high hopes for the future of the season.

“This year and last year have been my favorite time so far,” Hedrick said. “The coaches are really good at coaching us, but laid back and fun. Everyone is really funny and it’s a real close team, a brotherhood. As it’s my last year playing baseball in high school I hope that we take first in league, make it to Valley and win it and also, just have a good time.”

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