Redland baseballer Josh Bedggood has arrived home in Australia to visit his family for the Christmas holiday period. Josh is completing a scholarship at Odessa Junior College in Texas where he is playing college baseball and undertaking a two-year course in kinesiology – exercise and sport science.
Josh started playing baseball for Redlands at T-ball level in 2006 and has since played his way through many levels of regional, state, national and international baseball. He has represented Brisbane South region at various state and national titles from Little League through to U18s, and was selected in several Junior Bandits teams throughout those years.
He has also represented Australia at Little League level in China and in the Cal Ripken World Series in the US, was selected as a member of the Australian U15 team to compete in the World Cup in Mexico in 2014, and as part of an Australian team to compete in the first Major League Baseball Spring Training Tour in the US in 2016.
In May that year, Josh also competed in the Australian School Boys Baseball Tournament in Perth and this resulted in his being chosen for the Australian School Boys team which travelled to the US to play various high school and junior college teams in Oregon, San Diego, Arizona and Los Angeles. It was in Arizona that Josh was noticed by the Odessa Junior College coach.
In 2016 Josh was selected as part of the Major League Baseball Australian Academy Program during which the boys trained and played baseball every day and completed their schooling requirements in the evenings. In October he was selected as one of 10 Australians to travel to the US with a World Select Team to compete in Memphis and Arizona on an MLB Showcase Tour.
The boys played in front of many US college scouts; Josh was noticed by a number of colleges and soon had multiple offers from US schools.
During his first semester at Odessa Josh played pre-season preparation “fall ball”, playing up to three games every weekend against junior colleges in the Odessa area as well as participating in “inter-squads” against other members of the Odessa baseball squad on weekdays.
At the end of his course Josh hopes to either transfer to a high class four-year school or, if he plays baseball well enough, to hear his name called in the baseball draft.
Josh was noticed by a number of colleges and soon had multiple offers from US schools.
