(Indianola) A starting spot at first base could be in the cards for AHSTW graduate Sam Porter at Simpson.
Porter saw some pinch hit opportunities during his sophomore season with the Storm and ended up hit two hits and one walk in four plate appearances. He’s hopeful a much larger role lies ahead. “I don’t want to come to any conclusions, but if I go into the fall season with everything I have and really compete I have a really good chance of being the guy at first base this upcoming season.”
His offense has improved in his two years on campus and he’ll need to take another step forward to occupy a permanent spot in the lineup. “I talked to my hitting coach over the summer and I’ve been sending him videos and he’s been sending things back. I’m just trying to work with my hips and staying back and staying consistent with everything. Hitting was the #1 problem going into my freshman year. The velocity was a huge change to me and I struggled with that.”
Even though he hasn’t seen a lot of playing time yet, it’s still been a good experience. “Everything is pretty fun. The guys are great, just the brotherhood of staying around everyone every day. Playing baseball every day, it’s hard to beat that.”
Putting his sole focus on baseball has been a benefit. “I’ve improved dramatically over just the past two seasons of playing baseball year round. In high school I stuck to two sports, but even in the summer baseball really wasn’t the only thing you could play. You had to go to weights in the morning and do other stuff as well. Baseball really got the short end of the stick when it came to high school sports and being by itself, because it was never really by itself. Just playing baseball the past two years year round and that’s the only thing I do I’ve improved dramatically and it’s really fun.”
Simpson went 19-20 last season. Porter says making the conference tournament has been a big goal for the Storm.
AHSTW grad Sam Porter:
