Burnet baseball player to play for Abilene Christian University

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

BURNET — After one visit, Burnet High School senior catcher Joshua Thompson knew he found his next team: Abilene Christian University.

He signed his letter of intent during a ceremony Nov. 14.

“They were on the top of my list,” he said. “The Christian atmosphere and them going to play Division I this year. When they offered, I was pretty quick to say yes.”

Burnet head baseball coach Jose Sierra said he remembers meeting Thompson as a freshman. The player immediately told the coach he was going to play Division I baseball.

“I said, ‘OK, Josh. Let’s worry about this year,'” Sierra recalled saying. “He has grown in a lot of different areas: weight-room training, leadership skills, grown in his faith. I think he’s going to do good things.”

Hill Country Hooks select team coach Dustin Shaffer has worked with Thompson for five years and said he’s one of the hardest-working players on the team.

“He’s never going to stop,” he said. “That’s what’s going to separate him from a lot of other kids. He has the mentality, the heart and the physical ability to stick to it.”

The son of Tamara and Roy Thompson plans to major in petroleum engineering and business.

“It interested me for a long time,” Joshua Thompson said about the field.

Thompson said his position puts him in a spot of doing more for his team.

“As a catcher, you’re the leader of the team,” he said. “You’re pretty much in control of what the pitcher throws, you control what happens. The coach says what he wants from the team, you’re the relay person for that.”

“Josh is a team guy,” Sierra said. “We’re honored to have Josh and look forward to seeing what he can do.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com