(DCC Athletics release)
GLENDIVE – Red-shirt freshman and right handed pitcher Josh Hoffer has committed to pitch for Lakeland University next season.
Hoffer, a Glendive native, played his prep ball with the Glendive Blue Devils American Legion program and graduated from Dawson County High School.
“When he came into the program, he was throwing almost straight over the top, and the breaking ball didn’t really have consistent action,” said Bucs head coach Chris Lewis. “He dropped his arm slot down a bit and developed a spike slider and all of a sudden he has a foot of run on the fastball and his slider is now a wipeout type pitch.”
The righty used a medical red-shirt during his freshman season.
“We were about half way through the year and he had been having some arm fatigue, some pain and some impingement,” recalled Lewis, “he only had about 4 innings under his belt, so it made sense to get things under control and try again this season because it was obvious he had a bright future.”
This spring Hoffer led the Bucs with 32 innings pitched, a 4-2 record with two complete games, a strike out-to-walk ratio of 2:1 and 7.59 strike outs per nine innings.
“We are really happy for Josh that he found a place he felt good about” said Lewis. “He received a lot of attention from all over the country and the fact that he will be joining teammate Trevor Meier at Lakeland is a plus. It was a long process to get back to full health, but once he did, he was lights out. He is a great young man. He has a shot to be a really good arm for Lakeland and it will be a lot of fun to follow him over the next few years.”
Lakeland University is located in Plymouth, Wisconsin and is a member of the Northern Athletics College Conference.
