Ben Dines '15
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Steven Wilson (SW) was a renaissance man in the offseason, but is already getting back in the baseball mindset for this upcoming year. Wilson spoke with Santa Clara Broncos (SCB) about learning from the past and shaping further success as a team.
SCB: How have you been staying busy in the offseason?
SW: To stay busy during the offseason, I have been lifting a lot and running. Along with that I have been trying to work various jobs as much as possible to earn a little money before the school year starts. Back home in Colorado, I built a new deck on my dad's house, refinished a local high school's gym floor, and worked for the local parks and recreation district as well. Now that I am back in Santa Clara area I am still running and lifting — trying to get prepared for our fitness test, which will be the first week of school. I am also working for the athletic department as Event Staff at different sporting events.
SCB: Tell me a little about RD. What does it mean to the Bronco Baseball Team?
SW: RD is Bronco Baseball. Relentless Development is our motto. To us it means that we are never satisfied. RD is not just something for when we are on the field either. There is always an aspect of our game that we can improve on, but there are also other aspects of life that continuously need development whether that be as a student, a son, a brother, etc. It is much more than just a "motto" though; it is a lifestyle. It's a mindset. Once you buy into RD, it is going to be very hard to not be successful. As [associate athletic director] Jeff Mitchell quoted in a video Bronco Baseball did a few years ago, "Relentless, we drill until the impossible becomes routine, until the routine becomes second nature ... but we leave stronger, better. Not just as ball players, but as men."
SCB: What would you personally like to build on this year? How are you going to achieve this?
SW: Personally, I just want to become a better leader for this team. We are a very young team and I want to be able to help guide the younger guys not only on the field, but also off the field. Help them with their game if I can, and support them mentally if I am unable to help them with their physical game. My goal is to build on my personal game by first building a team. When you have a team, building onto what you personally have becomes much easier. My personal success has no weight compared to the success of the team as a whole.
SCB: What was the overall feeling as the season came to a close last year?
SW: Last season was one of those seasons that you just don't want to end. Being my first season playing in college and having as much fun and success as we were having, it was difficult to see it end. Knowing that I may not ever play with any of those seniors again is a tough pill to swallow. Not only were they great teammates: they were great leaders, friends, and men. Looking back, you don't really remember the wins and the losses as much as you remember the nine months spent grinding away with your brothers. Last year was amazing and I will never forget it, but the past is the past, and we have five months of preparation to get ready for the 2015 season.
SCB: How is the team going to build off of last season's success and take it even further?
SW: You know I enjoy this question a lot. First things first though: we have to build our team this year. With another large incoming class, there are going to be a lot of new guys that the returners are going to welcome in and get to know. The largest part of the fall is going to be to get to know one another as much as we possibly can. Similar to last year we need to know our guys well enough to where they feel comfortable coming up to any person on the team if they are struggling, whether it be on the field, in the classroom, or being away from home. We will all become family first, and once we hit that point, then we can use that confidence from last season to help us this upcoming season. We know we can win now, and with that engrained in our head we can be a very dangerous team. With a group of guys that all love one another, a work ethic that is relentless, and a necessary confidence, taking our successes from last year and furthering them will just come naturally. We will not look back at last year and think to ourselves that we need to do even better than that. Our team this year will take it day by day and do our thing every one of those days.
