by Connor Brady ‘17

Every athlete will say that greatness derives from a lot of effort and dedication. Senior pitcher and infielder Josh Seils is a baseball player who went above and beyond to make sure he secured a spot next year on the roster of the Towson baseball team.

To be a college athlete, one must put in hours of practice every day. Seils participated in two-man workouts with varsity baseball Coach Sean Davis in the offseason to stay competitive. On top of that, he consistently attended the lifting workouts. Many shy away from that much work, but those with true passion don’t work, they play. They see it as their chance to get where they want to go.

“I worked hard in the offseason because playing baseball is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. I always attended the weight room sessions because I didn’t want to have regrets going into college. On the field, I don’t see it as work, I see it as just playing and having fun,” said Seils.

For Seils, hard work meant that he got accepted to play baseball at his first choice college, Towson. Seils will have 6 a.m. weight room sessions every Tuesday and Thursday. Towson baseball then will have practice after players attend their classes for the day, with Monday being the only day off. The Towson baseball team gets winter “off,” but they are still expected to lift and stay conditioned. Their spring season goes from February all the way to June.

To show Towson that he was interested, Seils emailed Mike Goittlieb, the Towson head coach, multiple times over the summer leading into his junior year. When he sent the emails, he also sent Goittlieb a skills video, which many coaches require from prospective players. Unfortunately, Seils never received a response. Despite the fact most colleges usually respond, he did not give up that easy. Seils went to Davis to ask if he could reach out to Towson for him, and Davis responded by emailing Goittlieb with a skills video attached as well as a summary of Seils’ skill set. Goittlieb came to one of Seils’ games and afterward invited him to a camp. It was after the camp that Seils told Goittlieb, “I want to be a Tiger.” After Seils was informed he could play at Towson, he then applied and he got accepted.

Seils says he wants to go to Towson because the school has great education and isn’t far from home. He doesn’t plan to change the approach that got him this far. “My goal is to be a starter freshman year. If that doesn’t work, then I will make Coach Goittlieb give me a chance by proving my work ethic in practice.”