In the South Florida Collegiate Baseball League we are lucky to get players from all over the country who come down and play in our league for the summer. This year we have a group of five guys from Phoenix Community College scattered across the Knights and the Pokers who are showing us what they got. Phil Dudziak, Eric Perez, and Bryce Brassfield are on the West Palm Beach Knights; Luke Hinze and Cade Cunningham are on the Florida Pokers. They are all new to the league this year and don’t have much to complain about playing in Southern Florida… except the humidity. 

Dudziak is from Olathe, Kansas, and went to Olathe South High School. He is a catcher for the Knights, which he said he has enjoyed so far because of all the guys on the team and the coaches, specifically saying Coach Martin makes playing fun and is a guy that everyone loves playing for. He says, “Everyone can ball out and we have a lot of fun on the field together.” Dudziak has two other teammates on the Knights with him, Perez and Brassfield who are both pitchers. He liked having teammates playing with him, especially because they are pitchers because as a catcher, he already knows how their balls move and what type of guys they are on the mound. He doesn’t have to adjust as much as he would with new pitchers. Playing against his teammates is something he said has been cool and that he wants to “go out and give it to them for 9 innings so that you can trash talk back at the hotel.” 

Perez is a left-handed pitcher who grew up in Phoenix attending Desert Vista High School. The humidity is the biggest adjustment for him so far, but he says you can’t complain about playing out in South Florida. Playing with his teammates from college is enjoyable, but nothing new to him, as he’s used to it from intrasquad scrimmages. 

Brassfield is a right-handed pitcher who grew up in Phoenix and went to Perry High School. He loves the ability to play with his friends and not just play baseball, but also do some fun things with them as well. They have all been able to get closer already this summer, have a main goal when they go back to school and that's getting to the World Series together, and by having more bonding time he feels it will make their team better. His main focus this summer is finding new ways to get better and training without the special equipment he is used to back at school. He says that they all constantly push one another so that they all get better and are able to reach their full potential. 

Hinze is from Chandler, Arizona, and went to Perry High School, along with Brassfield. He is a center fielder for the Pokers. He says becoming comfortable with a new team is easy because he knew people already. He has loved getting to compete against his teammates because they “all want to see each other succeed, but when we play against each other there's always a little more on the line”, bragging rights! His favorite thing about baseball is the relationships he's been able to build, “the brotherhood baseball brings is unique and that’s what makes it so special.” 

Cunningham is from Austin, Texas, and went to Vandegrift High School. Playing against his teammates is a lot of fun, he says, seeing someone else succeed always helps motivate him to get better each and every day and get “bragging rights since [they] live in the same hotel room.” Cunningham has always liked the constant competition that comes along with baseball. He says, “You can have fun, and at the same time flip a mental switch to become a dawg.” He enjoys going at it with other players who are all trying to reach the same goal. 

They all agree that playing with and against each other is a lot of fun, but it also adds a sense of family to Florida that they might not have had if they weren’t so far away from home. 

When asked what each of them does when they are not playing baseball, they each gave a little taste of what Phoenix had to offer. Hiking and swimming were highly mentioned activities. There are also so many beautiful mountains to check out, sunrises are the best. Just being anywhere with friends and family is nothing any of them can complain about. They all switch up the bat for a club pretty often. Cunningham says, “There is no better feeling than striping a dart to 3 feet and proceeding to miss the bird.” And of course, if you aren’t playing baseball the next best thing to do is watch it and they love to go out to the Diamondbacks games.