Titan At Home In The Infield
University High baseball player Aaron Fryer is a man for all positions - except the outfield.
Playing right field was a short-lived experiment last year for the Titan senior, who instead wound up becoming an All-Greater Spokane League first baseman.
“Coach just comes to me to fill a spot we need,” said Fryer, who has played every infield position. “My whole life I’d seen the ball on the ground. All of a sudden it was in the air and catching it was not so easy.”
This year he is playing shortstop for a team that is part of a three-team tie for third place in league. The outfield is a distant memory.
Attempting to field ground balls or flies notwithstanding, it has been Fryer’s hitting and quickness that catches the eye.
He batted .407 his junior season and is currently hitting .521 with seven stolen bases, as many runs scored and six RBIs.
“Coach always says I’m a bad-ball hitter,” said Fryer. “I have a huge strike zone. Anything around the plate, I hit.”
Included were three singles last Friday during a thrilling 3-2 eight-inning win over Central Valley that enabled the Titans to move past the Bears in what has become a crowded GSL field.
Just one game separates the third- from ninth-place teams at the midpoint of the season. There’s little room to feel comfortable.
“I’ll tell you exactly what I tell the kids,” said U-Hi coach Don Ressa. “We just try to live one day at a time.”
Fryer, for one, agrees with the philosophy, learning a lesson from basketball where the regional qualifiers lost a game after holding a huge fourth-quarter lead.
While the basketball season was satisfying and fun - “We surprised some people, I guess,” said Fryer. “But people didn’t know we had a special bond.” - baseball is his favorite sport.
Assistant Scott Sutherland told Ressa that Fryer has the quickest hands and feet of any player he’s coached. It has enabled him to make the transition easily from the left side of the infield to the right side and back again.
“He could play darn near anywhere,” said Ressa. “He’s really talented.”
Fryer is one of numerous experienced players who were members of University’s state-qualifying American Legion AA team and would like to duplicate the performance this spring for the high school team.
“It gave us a view of what the playoffs were like and how fun they could be,” said Fryer.
Next year he is ticketed to play at St. Martin’s College in Tacoma, a Division II school, but does not rule out the possibility of a Division I try.
“I’ve always dreamed of it and I’d like to play at Portland State,” Fryer said. “If I get the chance, we’ll see.”
Fryer may not have a strong enough arm to play shortstop collegiately and will likely be moved to second base, but that really doesn’t matter.
“As long as I’m around the horn and not in the outfield, that’s fine,” Fryer said. “The infield has been a good friend of mine.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo