Dragon Rhys Aldenhoven speaks to Dragons media about his time in US college ball......
We recently caught up with 21 Year old College student and Doncaster Dragon, Rhys Aldenhoven to see how he has been going in the U.S.
Rhys welcome back home, it’s been a couple of years since you were here last. How have you been?
Thank you, I’ve been going great. It’s been 2 years since I was here last, I’m back for 7 weeks and it’s really good to be back. Living in Warrandyte it’s easy to say there’s no place like home!
Do you miss being home and your old job at the local pub?
Ha ha ha, I’m sure the locals miss me more than I do working at the pub! I do miss it but you kind of get used to the lifestyle over here after being here for 3 years.
What college are you at now and where were you previously?
I’m currently doing my final year of school at the University of Pittsburgh after I did 2 years Junior College in Texas at Hill College.
The weather would be contrasting a fair bit between Texas and Pennsylvania?
You’re not wrong there! Texas is warm to hot nearly the whole time but Pitt gets freaky cold for about 5 months and dips into the negative degrees with snow! Outside of that though the temps are pretty good, so it’s not too bad.
Now onto baseball, the main reason why you’re there. Which year has been your best?
Probably the most recent season has been my best so far and from a team perspective we did well. NOTE: Rhys threw 88 innings for an 8-1 record and a 2.76 era in 15 appearances.
How any games does the team play and what record did you have in the last season?
The season runs from February to late June and we play 60 games. Our record last year was 42-17 which is pretty impressive!
Do you get to travel much for games and get to see other parts of the U.S?
Yeah it’s been an experience as we get to fly to most of our games against other colleges. Last year we had to fly to games in New York, Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina amongst others.
What are your goals for the next year’s season and have you had any interest shown from Major League teams in you?
I hope to graduate this year if all goes to plan and we will see what happens from there. A couple of teams have sent me letters showing some interest so I just have to give it my all this year and hopefully something will come of it.
Have you been able to keep up with Doncaster’s results whilst you’re there?
I probably haven’t kept up as much as I should but I have been very focused on trying to work as hard as I can over here. Pretty much every day is focussed on baseball and study. My dad Horrie still goes down to some games and keeps me updated about the club whenever we talk so I have a fair idea of what’s happening. I’m actually looking forward to coming back, suiting up in the green and gold getting a game!
Do you have any advice for our juniors at Doncaster?
College is a great way to further your baseball career and gain some huge life experiences along the way. The people you get to meet and the opportunities that exist over there are massive. The harder you work towards your goal the closer you will be to succeeding. I’d completely recommend college to anyone who wants to take their game to the next level.
Rhys, it’s been great to hear from you. We wish you all the best with the preparations for next year and sincerely hope that you continue to improve and fingers crossed those letters from big league teams turn into something more. Thanks mate, good luck!
Thank you for the support guys. I appreciate it and I hope to catch up with you next season.
Rhy’s stats from last year can be found here:
