news-record.com

Bryan Petersen needed a boost. Something. Anything.

He was two years into his college career at Cal-Irvine, and little had gone as planned. A touted prospect from nearby Chatsworth High School, Petersen played sparingly his freshman season under a new coaching staff and managed two hits in 24 at-bats. He saw the field more the next year but struggled just the same, a .226 average in 42 games. One day, after striking out with the bases loaded to end a close game, Petersen spent the drive home contemplating whether to give up on baseball.

"The talent was there. I never questioned that," said Petersen, now the Grasshoppers' centerfielder. "But there's a difference between having talent and doing it on the field."

Near the end of his rope, Petersen took a 7-hour plane ride to Alaska, where he was scheduled to play summer ball with the Anchorage Bucs. He popped the film Annapolis into his DVD player, the story of a Naval Academy student who must overcome doubt about whether he can succeed. Sounds familiar, Petersen thought.

When the plane touched down, Petersen felt different. His problems, his anxieties, all the people he was worried about disappointing - he realized they were all 3,000 miles away. A weight lifted.

"It was a chance for me to get out and have some fun," said Petersen, who led the league with a .365 batting average. He watched Annapolis 12 more times that summer.

Petersen returned to California with renewed confidence. He led Irvine to the College World Series for the first time in school history last season, hitting .323 with a team-high 27 stolen bases. The Florida Marlins drafted him in the fourth round during that run, and he's now one of the more promising prospects in the farm system.

He's second on the Hoppers in batting average (.297) and RBIs (48), and he leads the club with nine stolen bases. His 17 home runs are more than three times his collegiate total, and they trail only teammate Mike Stanton in the South Atlantic League leaderboard.

And, oh, his arm. In a game against Delmarva this season, Petersen caught a fly ball near the warning track in center and threw out a runner tagging to third base. The ball never hit the ground. The Delmarva runner's jaw almost did, though.

"I looked at the third base coach. He just had his hands on his head," Grasshoppers manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "You're not supposed to make that play."

The right people are taking notice. When the Marlins' high Class-A team in Jupiter had a hole in the outfield due to injury last month, Petersen filled in. He knew he would be sent back to Greensboro in about two weeks no matter how he played, but that didn't help him get any more comfortable. In 39 at-bats, he had five hits and struck out seven times.

The Petersen of a few years ago might have been frustrated by that speed bump, but this version hardly seemed fazed at all. He returned to Greensboro and got right back into a groove, and when Double-A Jupiter had a one-day need for a centerfielder last Sunday, Petersen got the call again.

This time, he went 4-for-4.

"Wherever he goes, he's going to struggle at first. But he's not going to struggle for long," Rodriguez said. "He's already shown the ability to make adjustments. He's not afraid to fail."

Tom Keller can be reached at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com.