This interview with Brooks Douglass, leadoff hitter for the 2016 Bakersfield College Super Regional Qualifying Baseball team was shot in the George Culver Clubhouse a couple of weeks before the postseason began...Douglass was charming and engaging while sitting in the hot seat behind Coach Painton's desk. He was cool and collected despite his teammates getting dressed behind the interviewer (BC Sports Information Director Francis Mayer), and Coach P and his assistants getting dressed an arm's length away.
At Bat #7
Brooks Douglass hit safely in 24 of BC's 39 games...and was selfless; he tied for the state lead in sacrifice hits, exemplifying BC's "small ball" philosophy. He was third in the state in groundouts, but wasn't anywhere near the top twenty when it came to hitting into double plays....when you read between the lines, it's easy to see that Brooks was one of the most effective hitters in the state for 2016.
And Success Is His...
It's a base hit, and he's breaking for first base; the culmination of hundreds-if not thousands-of remarkably fast decisions, observations, and fast-twitch muscles responses. Oh, that and years of practice at one of the most difficult skills in team sports-using a round stick to intercept a round ball being thrown so hard that one has about two seconds to analyze and execute a swing at it.