Local product has another shot

MAT-SU — When it comes to Valley baseball, Josh Boring was the next big thing.

As a Colony High School freshman in 2007, Boring was an All-State American Legion shortstop. His path around the bases was derailed in the ensuing years and after a bumpy ride, Boring was ready to give up on baseball.

That’s when an opportunity to play for the Alaska Baseball League’s Mat-Su Miners put him back in the swing of things. Now, Boring is once again a regular on the diamond, and he’s competing for a spot on the Merced Community College baseball team in California.

Boring was a star on Valley baseball diamonds, leading the Alaska Road Warriors in 2007 and taking the Colony Knights to a third-place finish in the ASAA state tournament in 2008. Boring highlighted a talented Colony group, that included outfielder J.D. Mayo, who also played for the Miners this summer. But that 2008 run was the last time Boring played baseball in the Valley until this summer, when he earned a spot on the amateur developmental baseball team.

“I never thought about playing for the Miners growing up,” Boring said. “I thought it was out of my reach. I never played to get attention. I just played to do well and have fun. When I played legion, the starting position really surprised me. I practice and played even harder to keep my spot.”

Boring’s introduction to baseball goes back to a garage down the street from his house. That building formerly housed Grand Slam Batting Cages. The pitching machines and nets are all gone, but the time and hard work Boring put in there cannot be erased.

“In the summer, three or four days a week, I’d walk down there for four or five hours, sometimes all day, working on my swing,” Boring said. “That helped me the most.”

In 2009, Boring dropped out of classes at Colony High to take home school classes to graduate on time. Boring’s talent allowed him to play Outside numerous times. Ineligible for high school baseball, Boring chose to attend a camp in Puerto Rico each year, foregoing his anticipated junior and senior seasons.

“I don’t even know how many teams I’ve played on,” he said. “Probably upwards of 20, maybe 30. At Colony, I know we had good chemistry, the best of any team I’ve ever been on. We would have played well, we could have gone far, maybe became state champions. Those are all ‘what ifs.’”

Boring graduated on time in 2010, then went to the New Mexico Military Institute. After a season at NMMI, he was dismissed. Last fall, Boring’s last effort at playing baseball on the next level came as a walk on at Southwestern Oregon Community College, where many Alaskan baseball products have landed. Finding no worthwhile baseball, Boring was finished.

“It was a wake up call for me,” Boring said. “It was depressing that I couldn’t do the one thing in my life I truly loved to do.”

With options for playing baseball dwindling down to almost zero and working at Three Bears, a chance encounter gave Boring a final opportunity to redeem a promising career when the Mat-Su Miners came calling.

“Josh loaded up our groceries from Three Bears. He said he’d really like to have a chance to play for the Miners this year,” said Denise Christopher, Miners marketing director and wife of general manager Pete Christopher. “Pete always wanted to give Josh a try, wanted him to get out of whatever direction he was in and kind of move forward with a second chance, because he’s a talented kid. So Pete walked back in and said, ‘Why don’t you come try out for coach?’”

With just weeks before the beginning of the 2012 season, most of the Miners infielders were still playing for their respective collegen teams in regional tournaments.

Unsure of who would make it to the Valley to play, Pete Christopher picked up Boring as insurance, expecting him to see considerable playing time. But all the recruited infielders showed up, limiting how much time Josh would see on the field.

“He didn’t play much, but he’d always be in the cages hitting and off the tee or soft tossing, trying to stay tuned,” Christopher said. “He’s got to work hard, keep his nose clean stay healthy. He’s got a plus arm and plus speed. The rest is up to him, how hard he works and how much he hustles.”

Boring appeared in six games for the Miners at second base, hitting .333. At the MLB Scouts Showcase, Boring ran a timed 60 meters in 6.63 seconds. And that hard week may have paid off. Miners assistant coach Joel Pedretti picked up Boring to compete for a spot on his team at Merced CC in California.

“He can really move. That jumped off the page at me, being able to bunt, and run the bases,” Pedretti said. “He’s always taking ground balls, asking questions and learning from D-1 guys. It’s tough for me to stick my neck out, but he has a really strong work ethic.”

After Valley baseball fans waited to see Boring put on a show that never got out from behind the curtain, Boring’s return to the Valley baseball stage has given him a new chance to keep pursuing the game he loves.

“I would tell them what my dad told me,” he said of the advice he has for other troubled athletes. “If they really enjoy playing, if they want to see if they can take it to the next level, gear down in the classroom and become eligible, get your priorities straight and get on the field.”