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The Hits Keep Coming

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By JOEY JOHNSTON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

Oklahoma Baptist University first baseman Josh Collazo, eager to make an impression at a new school, was struggling in the early season.

With one swing at Hardin-Simmons, everything changed.

When the rocketing line drive was last seen, it soared high over the scoreboard in left-center field, well beyond the 370-foot marker. Somebody later said the ball, still rolling, bounded onto a football practice field.

"That ball just disappeared, like a star in the night," Collazo said.

And ever since, his junior season has been out of sight.

Once, Collazo was best known as the player who broke Tino Martinez's home run record at Jefferson High. Now he has a new distinction: Player of the Year in his conference.

Collazo, a probable NAIA All-American, is hitting .432 with 22 home runs and 100 RBIs for the Bison, members of the Sooner Athletic Conference. When OBU coach Bobby Cox (no relation to the major-league manager) recruited Collazo from Ranger Junior College, he hoped for some immediate offensive impact.

But this?

"He has been amazing," Cox said. "Absolutely amazing."

Collazo's power numbers are impressive enough. What sets him apart, Cox said, is the ability to make contact, use all fields and hit for average.

"You see Josh's type of statistics with those classic home run hitters, those dead-pull guys," Cox said. "And what you'll also see, usually, is a hitter who is not successful handling off-speed stuff or can't make good adjustments within the at-bat."

Collazo never imagined making a name for himself at a place such as OBU, a liberal arts school just outside of Oklahoma City, where the food isn't like home, the Southwestern accents have a different twang and the wind often whips unmercifully.

At Jefferson, where he learned the accomplishments of celebrated Dragon baseball alumni such as Martinez, Fred McGriff and Luis Gonzalez almost daily, Collazo hoped for a shot in the major-league draft.

If not, he likely saw himself attending a college in Florida.

But his grades weren't good enough.

"I didn't apply myself," Collazo said. "I was a get-by guy. I learned a lesson, though. My grades have picked up."

He was a 3.0 student at Ranger JC. At OBU, he's carrying a 3.3 grade-point average.

His baseball numbers have picked up, too.

"It means something to get that number 100 of RBIs," said Collazo, who was also honored with the conference's Gold Glove award at first base. "I had a coach in junior college Todd Baker who taught me to be more patient, to pick up the seams of the ball. I used to be jumpy, out in front too much. Ever since then, the game has kind of slowed down for me."

And his direction hit the fast track.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353 or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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