Dreams now a reality for Ludy

The dreams Josh Ludy once had seemed dead.
He wasn’t getting the playing time he had hoped for. He wanted to transfer, but discovered he really didn’t have any viable options.
So Ludy stayed at Baylor University, starting his junior season third on the Bears’ catching depth chart. Less than two years later, he’s one of the top players in the country.
On Thursday, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper named the 2008 Jay County High School graduate as a third-team All-American.
He had already won a pair of Big 12 player of the year awards, and was the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week for April 9 through 15. He is also a candidate for several national honors.
But he tends to downplay his individual accolades.
"I kind of realized at the beginning of the year this was my last chance at it,” said Ludy in a phone interview Wednesday. “I've just really been more focused on what I can do to help the team win. ... It's great and everything, but it's kind of back burner to what the team goals have been this year."
The Bears are 44-14, won the Big-12 regular-season title and are ranked second in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Today they will begin hosting a regional in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, opening what they hope will be a run to the College World Series against Oral Roberts at 7 p.m.
"It's pretty unbelievable,” said Ludy. “This year we're 29-3 at home and we've won 22 straight at home. ... Here lately during our winning streak ... we've had 6,000 fans at our big weekend series. We're almost sold out already for the regional. We've got great fans obviously that show up in large numbers. Just to have them behind us the whole time and share the moment with them is pretty special."
Ludy has been key to that special season.
After playing sparingly during his first two years at Baylor and considering a transfer, he finally earned the starting job late in his junior season. It has paid off, both for Ludy and the Bears.
The senior catcher led the Big 12 this season in home runs (13), RBIs (64) and slugging percentage (.622) and was also second in total bases and third in batting average.
His 64 RBIs in just 55 games are nine more than anyone else in the conference and rank him 11th in the country.
The Bears have been ranked among the top 10 teams in Division I for most of the year, and if they advance through their regional over Dallas Baptist, UT-Arlington and Oral Roberts they will host a Super Regional as well.
"When I look back at it, I feel like it would have been a pretty stupid decision on my part to leave,” said Ludy, who had seven hits, 10 RBIs, six runs and four home runs in four games during the Big 12 Tournament. “It was frustrating, but now seeing that everything worked out ... I wouldn't trade this for anything right now. ... Just being around these guys and having the year we've had, I definitely wouldn't trade that for anything."
In addition to the awards he’s already won, Ludy is also a semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy, which honors the best player in the nation, and the Johnny Bench Award, which goes to the top catcher in college baseball. He was on the 60-man watch list for the Golden Spikes Award that honors the best amateur baseball player in the country.
Both the conferences coaches and The Oklahoman newspaper selected him as their Big 12 Player of the Year.
"It was awesome,” said Baylor pitcher Kolt Browder of seeing his roommate get the awards. “I felt great for him. He deserved it. ... I was just really happy for him. ... He didn't get a lot of playing time early on. Just seeing him have a great year like this is awesome.
"He is probably the No. 1 leader on the team. … Definitely a lot of the younger guys look up to him as a leader on the baseball field and off the field as well."
Ludy is likely to have the chance to extend his career on the field, fulfilling a dream his had since childhood.
He said he’s talked to scouts from several teams, all of whom have told him he’ll be selected during the three-day Major League Baseball Draft that begins Monday. Regardless of what team drafts him, when his name is called or how much money is involved, Ludy said he plans to take his shot at playing professional baseball.
"If anybody drafts me ... I told them all that I'm signing no matter what the signing bonus is,” said Ludy. “I'm definitely going to do it."[[In-content Ad]]