CLU ALUM SPRINGSTON CLIMBING THE BASEBALL LADDER : HARD-WORKING PITCHER NOW ON DODGERS' SINGLE-A TEAM IN YAKIMA, WASHINGTON.Byline: Jim Inghram Staff Writer Every Little League player dreams of making it to the major leagues. For most, however, it remains just that - a dream. A far-off, unreachable fantasy. For Adam Springston, it has become a reality. Springston, who helped Cal Lutheran reach the Division III
Division III (or DIII) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association of the United States. College World Series twice in three years, is on one of the lowest rungs of the minor-league ladder, but he plans on making it to the top. And is willing to do what it takes to achieve his ultimate goal. ``There is a lot of hard work and adjustment,'' Springston, who pitches for the Dodgers' short-season Single-A team in Yakima, Wash. ``But I plan on working my butt off.'' Springston first received notice after his freshman year at Oxnard College Oxnard College is a California-state funded community college located in Oxnard, California. It was established in 1975. It serves the Oxnard Plain cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, and Port Hueneme. . He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From to the present, the Braves have played in Turner Field. in the 30th round of the June 1996 draft. He elected to go to Cal Lutheran rather than sign because, as he put it, he needed to mature a little. ``I also wanted to go to college,'' Springston said. The time at Cal Lutheran helped Springston develop, but he went undrafted in this June's draft. Springston refused to give up. In May he attended a tryout camp held by the Dodgers in Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. . He threw well, but heard nothing. Then three weeks later the Dodgers called. Springston signed on June 12 and was on his way to Yakima the next day. He was there for just two days before being sent to the Dodgers' rookie team in Great Falls Great Falls, city (1990 pop. 55,097), seat of Cascade co., N central Mont., second largest city in the state, at the confluence of the Missouri and Sun rivers and near the falls that give the city its name; inc. 1888. , Mont. He worked eight innings in Great Falls and struck out 12 and was promoted back to Yakima. ``My first two outings here (Yakima) I threw well,'' Springston said. ``The third time I was wild. I couldn't get anything over. I had control problems, walked a few and gave up some runs. ``I didn't let it get me down. I knew I just had to come out the next time and get my pitches over.'' His next start was delayed a little. Springston had to sit out five days when he felt a twinge twinge n. A sharp, sudden physical pain. v. To cause to feel a sharp pain. in his shoulder. Now he's healthy and doing his best to assimilate into baseball life. ``The biggest thing is conditioning,'' Springston said. ``Instead of having to pitch every other day you have to pitch seven days a week, but I love it. You shouldn't be here if you don't like it.'' Becoming a pitcher instead of a thrower has been another of Springston's adjustments. ``In college I could just blow the ball by people,'' Springston said. ``Here everyone can hit a fastball. You have to learn how to outthink out·think tr.v. out·thought , out·think·ing, out·thinks 1. To outdo (another) in thinking. 2. To outwit by thinking. and outpitch batters here. It's a big mental adjustment. It helps that the batters use wooden bats so you can pitch inside more.'' Springston has a fastball that is 89 to 91 mph, enough velocity to reach the majors, and his main focus will be refining that pitch and working on a slider A block of material that holds the read/write head of a magnetic disk. See flying head. and curve. ``They want you to throw 90 percent fastballs at this level to make sure you have command of it,'' Springston said. The short season ends in two weeks and after a brief visit to the beach Springston plans to get ready for spring training. ``I'm hopefully going to squeeze in a semester se·mes·ter n. One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year. [German, from Latin (cursus) s at school and the rest of the time I'll be running and lifting weights,'' Springston said. It's a recipe for success. ``He has the potential to be better,'' said Marty Slimak, Springston's coach at Cal Lutheran. ``His best baseball is ahead of him. He's a big kid (6-foot-6, 228 pounds) and the more he throws the better he will get. ``I see Adam just getting better and better. His potential is going to expand. His best years are yet to come.'' That's what Springston hopes. Add in some hard work and a little luck and his dream will get closer and closer to fruition. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour Conejo Edition only) Adam Springston helped Cal Lutheran reach the Div. III College World Series twice in three years before being signed by the Dodgers. He now pitches for Single-A Yakima Bears The Yakima Bears are a minor league baseball team in Yakima, Washington. They are a Class A team in the Northwest League and have been a farm team of the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2001, formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers from the team's creation in 1990 when the Salem Dodgers . GHene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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