Derek Hotzler '21 Recruiting Profile

Baseball has been a huge part of my life. I take pride and responsibility in training, practice, and games. I am always concerned with the details in baseball and in life. I started this good habit of paying attention to detail in the classroom. Never missing homework assignments, never having an excuse, and taking the responsibility. Getting good grades has always come easy for me, math and science are my favorite subjects and I have taken accelerated courses in these subjects. I‘ve taken the engineering courses that are available at my school and have received college credits for those courses. Being a three-sport athlete (baseball, basketball, football) and keeping your grades up is a hard task but it teaches you to balance time. Something that I feel makes me different than other students in school is that focus on treating all my teachers with a high level of respect. Even if I don’t agree with or like that class I still act respectfully and thankfully for their time. Teachers are like coaches and coaches are like teachers. You wouldn’t treat your coach well by acting like a class clown in practice everyday. The way I acted towards my teachers and coaches was a way for me to lead by example for my friends, peers, and teammates. So hard work and attention to detail starts in the classroom. The attitude or mental adjustment happened when I started playing JV sports and it was probably just a sign of maturity. This attitude helped me work with my coaches and gain their trust in practice which eventually led to them giving me playing time on varsity. Even if I didn’t agree with my coach, I would do what they say. Even if I made a mistake, I would take responsibility, forget about it, and move on to the next play. If I play for your program I will bring a good work ethic and attitude not just on the field but in the classroom too.