Joseph Henrickson
Staff Writer
In South Africa, baseball has been around since the late 1800’s, but still does not have the notoriety that it has here in the United States with Major League Baseball.
In fact, still to this day there has never been a native South African in the MLB, but a few recent draft picks look to challenge that.
As for Wes Hoskins, he’s had a notable baseball career already, being able to play for South Africa in the World Baseball Classic in 2012 and 2013 and helping beat France in this year’s qualifiers.
So the question is; why is Hoskins playing baseball at Pierce College?
Hoskins grew up watching his dad play baseball in South Africa and developed a love for the game. Still to this day he calls his dad one of the best baseball players that South Africa has ever had. His favorite MLB player growing up was Chipper Jones, formerly of the Atlanta Braves. With a true love for the game and a passion to play it every day, Hoskins looks to continue in the footsteps of Jones and have a career in the MLB.
The opportunities for a career playing baseball don’t come easy in South Africa. Hoskins has been taking advantage of every opportunity and spending a lot of time travelling. Last year he played for Lower Columbia Community College and didn’t get the playing time to be able to showcase his talent as he accumulated just 25 at bats over the entire season. He needed a better opportunity.
He spent the summer playing ball in Maryland and after a short trip home, he then went to play in the World Baseball Classic in Florida.
Hoskins arrived here in December to play for Pierce College, the 2012 NWAACC Champions. Though last year’s first baseman, Josh Potter led the team with a .363 average. He moved on leaving the position vacant. Pierce gave Hoskins the chance to prove himself and he has taken advantage of that fully. To this point in the season Hoskins is batting .406 through 28 games with a homerun and 11 doubles. He currently leads the team in average, hits, doubles, walks, and is second in runs batted in.
April 13 and 14, Hoskins faced his former team, the Lower Columbia Devils, in a 4 game series and helped the Raiders to a sweep. Hoskins collected 5 hits in the series, 3 of them for doubles and also had 4 RBI. Walking away from that series, Hoskins felt pretty great. Not only to beat his old teammates, but also to take a hold of first place in the division and push Lower Columbia into second, halting their 22 game win streak.
After this season at Pierce, Hoskins is headed to San Francisco to play summer ball for the Menlo Park Legends in hopes to continue his success. From there, it’s wherever the baseball gods lead him. At this rate, Hoskins is about playing the game to the best of his ability and hopefully someone in the MLB will take notice.
From South Africa to Washington, from Florida to San Francisco, Hoskins has not been lazy in his approach to the game and looks to continue this journey at the next level. In college, whether that is a Division Two or Division Three school or NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes), Hoskins just wants to be a part of a program where he can compete and have the opportunity to be the best player that he can be. Maybe one day he will see his name on the scoreboard of a Major League Baseball stadium, but for now he’ll have to settle for leading the Raiders to their second consecutive NWAACC title.
