Taking Advantage of an Opportunity

Steve Bernhardt: Building the Better Ballplayer

On November 11, 2007 we hosted an Under Armour National Tryout at Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas. This event, like most we hold in Texas, had many talented players in attendance. One of these players was an unheralded catcher named Josh Elander. He was not from one of the powerhouse high school programs in the Houston or Dallas areas. He also wasn’t listed on any national Top Prospect lists for the 2009 class, but he impressed our scouts at the Tryout and earned an invitation to the Under Armour Pre-Season All-America Tournament in Tucson, Arizona.

Josh spent that January weekend in Tucson continuing to impress scouts and coaches. He was named the top Underclass Prospect at the event after showing off his tools in both the workout and game settings. At 6’0”, 195 pounds of muscle, Josh has a classic catcher’s build with plus arm strength. What isn’t so conventional is that this catcher runs the sixty in the 6.75 range. When you combine that with power at the plate, you have a legitimate prospect with several plus tools.

Our guys liked him so much that we invited him to the prestigious Under Armour All-America Game held at Wrigley Field last month. Not only did Josh show great again, this time it was at a Major League stadium in front of many of baseball’s high level decision makers. In fact, as I threw to Josh in the first round of the game’s Home Run Derby, and watched him hit ball after ball into Wrigley’s left field bleachers and onto Waveland Avenue, I couldn’t help but think back to how he continues to seize every opportunity to show people that he can play.

We preach to our players at all of our events that you never know who’s watching, so you must play hard and show what you can do every time you step on the baseball field. Josh did that and he found himself going from a tryout at a Texas high school field to playing at Wrigley Field on national television just nine months later. I congratulate Josh for his accomplishments and wish him continued success. In the meantime, I can’t wait to find the next diamond in the rough who takes advantage of an opportunity to show us he can really play.

On a sad note, the news of the passing of Jim Spooner has hit all of us hard at the Factory. Coach Spooner was a great man who used his position of influence as the Head Coach at the University of West Florida to mold boys into quality young men while also winning an unbelievable number of baseball games. I had the honor of working with Spoon at several Baseball Factory events and enjoyed all of my time working with and learning from him. His combination of values, positive energy, compassion and baseball knowledge was unsurpassed. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Spooner family and I thank them for sharing Coach with us for the last few years – we are all better for it.


Steve Bernhardt is the Executive VP of Baseball Operations with Baseball Factory. Bernhardt played for five years in the Colorado Rockies organization. As Executive VP of Baseball Operations at Baseball Factory, he oversees all events and instruction. Bernhardt currently serves as an Associate Scout with the Colorado Rockies. He received his B.S. from the University of Richmond where he was an All-Conference player.