David Prost crouches behind home plate, glove open, ready for the pitcher to throw the ball. The snap of the leather rings through the air as David’s hand closes: strike one. This year will mark David’s third and final year on FHN’s Varsity Baseball team. He believes baseball is one of the most important things in his life, and it’s what he spends most of his time doing.
“It’s what I love to do,” David said. “When I get out on the field, everything else goes away; it’s just me and baseball.”
David accepted a full-ride scholarship to Meramec St. Louis Community College in St. Louis where he hopes to continue to improve until he can move on to the next step.
“Hopefully, I’ll move on to the next level after a year of junior college, and then I’ll either get drafted or go to play for a four-year school,” David said.
Not only was David offered a scholarship for his athletic abilities, he received a full ride due to academics as well.
“I work really hard,” David said. “I got a full ride academically and for athletics. I work hard on the field and in the classroom.”
Usually athletes have to contact scouts, or the scouts find the players by a happy accident, but in this case Meramec College found David and then came to scout his games.
“There were other scouts at a couple of my games but Meramec came and found me so we could schedule a college visit,” David said.
David finds inspiration for baseball in MLB players Dustin Pedroia and Evan Longoria. David’s two favorite baseball players play on his two favorite teams; Dustin Pedroia plays for The Boston Red Sox and Evan Longoria plays for The Tampa Bay Rays. They are his favorite players because they are talented but aren’t known by every baseball fan and aren’t the most popular in the MLB.
“I feel like they work really hard toward their sports, but they’re not big shots like Albert Pujols,” David said. “But they’re still studs on the field.”
Although David has players that he looks up to in the MLB, his greatest inspiration is his dad, Dave Prost. David’s father has supported him through his entire career so far and has motivated him to work hard and succeed. As David moves on to baseball in college, his father will continue to support him and to push him to do well as he attempts to further his career.
“My dad played baseball and he wants me to succeed even further than he did,” David said. “My dad has supported me my entire life and he’s always pushing me through baseball.”
After growing up watching his father play, baseball was one of the most important things in David’s life, which is why David’s father is his biggest inspiration.
“My dad played when he was younger and even made a career out of it until he had too many problems with his knee,” David said. “He motivated me to play by taking me to his practices, and by wanting me to do better than he did.”
Teammates are some of the best and most important support systems when it comes to being a part of a team, they even create friendships that can a last a lifetime. David’s teammates support him and value what he brings to the team in terms of his work ethic, and his motivation to win.
“He’s a good teammate; he doesn’t like to lose and is willing to work harder in order to win,” David’s teammate for six years senior Andrew Curran said.
Andrew doesn’t just think that David’s mindset will be helpful, he also believes in the potential of his athletic talents as well. Andrew knows that David’s talent is what will help contribute to the winning of games and will help the team excel as a
whole.
“He’ll be a good bat to have in the middle of the lineup,” Andrew said. In addition to David’s abilities on the baseball field, he is seen as a
leader as he demands the attention and respect of his teammates in games and practices.
“David has a good work ethic,” senior Tyler Ferguson said. “He lets everyone know where they need to be when he’s catching.”
David has been playing with some of his teammates, like Tyler, since middle school, and he appreciates having the opportunity to lead them and be a model for the team. David believes that his past experience with baseball is what helped him become the leader that he is now.
“I like having the leadership role,” David said. “I know what playing is like. A lot of the guys look up to me. I don’t want to sound cocky, but a lot of them I’ve been playing with for a really long time, and they like me on and off the field.”
But even with all of his leadership skills and athletic ability, David
isn’t perfect and since he tends to focus on his imperfections, he has to work extra hard to make sure that he can fix the mistakes he makes in his practices and games.
“I think he’s a little too hard on himself sometimes,” Tyler said. “But he handles it by working harder in practices.”
People notice that David is too hard on himself at times and they try to make him remember his talents, and although David works on not being as hard on himself, he can’t help it whenever he makes a mistake or if his accomplishments aren’t up to his usual standards.
“I’m hard on myself because I know what I’m capable of and when I do bad I criticize myself,” David said. “People criticize me for it and I try to do better but it’s hard.”
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