By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

WILSONVILLE, Ore.–  For North Salem’s Will Tsukamaki, Stayton’s Ryan Brown and Salem Academy’s Greyson Hanowell, Wednesday morning at Wilsonville High School was a far way from home.

But, for Hanowell and Tsukamaki, they’re familiar with the process, having done this last year.

“It feels good,” said Tsukamki. “I’ve been doing these showcase and the least you could do is to stay calm and act like you the best out there and have confidence.”

“It was really fun,” said Hanowell.  “Whether we win or lose, it’s the guys your with, just having a blast.”

The competition was stout, everyone was just as good as another and it’ll make you better.

“I always think, the better competition you play, it makes you better and better,” said Tsukamaki.  “And you start to adapt to the teams your play eventually.”

You could pick the brains of coaches, whether if they’re from Tacoma Community College or Corban University, these coaches are floating around.

“You definitely take what you’ve learned from these experienced coaches,” said Hanowell.  “Whether you go to a bunch of camps or try-outs like this and you try to pick their minds for good information that can help you develop as a good ball player and you can take it with you for the rest of your careers.”

For Brown, he’s thankful for the opportunity to perform and the exposure to this type of talent will help him become a better ball player when he gets back to the high school level.

“I like it because my dad made a sacrifice to pay for all of this and it’s good because you see the competition out there and compete with other people for other spots,” said Brown.  It brings out that fire in your eyes that you want that spot, it’s great.

“It’s pretty crucial.  Some of these kids are like that North Marion kid (Andy Schmitz) who had a really nice curve ball, there’s kids here who are going to have a really nice curve ball and that’s really good practice for me because one of the things I struggle with a little bit.

Brown also mention that he’ll like to make the team a little further down the road as Hanowell and Tsukamaki did.

In the meantime, Brown and Hanowell are off to prep for practice for the Single-A Santiam Senators as they prepare for their next game, and for Tsukamaki, it’s time to mentally prepare for a game versus West Albany for the Vikings of North Salem.

“I guess I have to just push through it,” Tsukamaki said with a smile.  “I’m a little tired, but like you said, this is the grind.”

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