Junior Sun Devil Jordan Aboites watches to see if his hit is fair or foul Tuesday afternoon as the Arizona State Sun Devils faced off with Arizona Diamondbacks in a pre-season exhibition game Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Resort in North Scottsdale, Arizona. The Diamondbacks would go on to win against Arizona State 4-0. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)Few athletes get to live the dream of playing professionally in the city where they attended college.
However, the dream has become a reality for Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (2002-05) and pitcher Jake Barrett (2010-12), who both played in the ASU vs. Arizona Diamondbacks scrimmage.
Gosewisch (1-for-2) graduated from Horizon High School in Scottsdale before playing at the collegiate level for ASU. He said he thoroughly enjoyed facing his alma mater in the scrimmage.
"It's a dream come true," he said. "It took a long time, but it was worth it, and I couldn't ask for anything better."
He also noted that he would have loved the opportunity to face a professional team at that age.
"We never had that opportunity to play the Diamondbacks or even any major league team," Gosewisch said. "It was really fun to go out there and see those kids."
Gosewisch also interacted with a few ASU players, specifically junior Jordan Aboites. He said he told Aboites to keep playing the way he does.
"All those guys play the game the right way and they can continue to do that for as long as they want," he said. "Hopefully they all get a chance in professional baseball — if you play the game the right way, it carries over, and you don't have to change anything regardless of where you go."
He credited not only current head coach Tracy Smith for the way the team plays, but also every former ASU baseball coach who has contributed to what the program has become today.
"It's every coach that's ever been there and the tradition they've carried on," Gosewisch said. "Every coach that has ever been there has done things the right way, so it's a tradition. They've all continued to do things the right way and Tracy is doing that too."
In addition, Gosewisch said he visited Phoenix Muni for ASU's series finale against Oklahoma State and while he spoke highly of it, he said it has been a difficult adjustment seeing ASU baseball at its new stadium.
"They did a good job with it and I think it's going to be really good once it's finished and everything is in there," he said. "I think they get a little bit better facilities for the players, but Packard is home for me so it's tough for me to get used to ASU being there because I associate Phoenix Muni with spring training."
Barrett, who gave up one hit in one inning pitched, is another ASU alum granted the opportunity of playing against his alma mater.
"When I saw the scrimmage on the schedule I was very excited because I know a couple of the ASU players too," he said. "I got to meet the new head coach over there a few days ago as well."
Although Barrett knew of Smith through a family friend who had played for him at Indiana, he said his first impression of ASU's new coach was positive.
"He's a good guy," he said. "He knows what he's doing over there and he's a good player-coach."
One aspect of ASU's team he noticed while on the mound was its aggressive style of play.
"Being an aggressive pitcher, I was going out there trying to overpower them with my stuff and they have some aggressive hitters in the lineup," Barrett said.
Although he played at Packard during his ASU career, Barrett praised Phoenix Muni's facilities.
"I worked out there a couple times and their new alumni clubhouse is pretty cool too, even though I enjoyed every bit of it over at Packard," he said.
Just as Gosewisch had, Barrett realized a dream come true during the exhibition game against the Sun Devils.
"It's awesome just to be lucky enough to get a scholarship to go to ASU and then be lucky again to get drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks," he said.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or follow @justintoscano3 on Twitter.
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