Student-Athlete Feature – Edward Scott

BY JESSALYN KIRCHHOFF

Edward Scott, a senior at Fort Hays State University majoring in Engineering Design, is a Manhattan, KS native and an outfielder for the FHSU Baseball team. 

Scott has loved playing baseball for as long as he can remember.

“Growing up, I would spend hours and hours playing many different sports, but I was always best at baseball,” he said. “We would play all the time in the backyard and as I got older, that turned into going to the field or indoor as often as I could to get more swings in.”

As time passed, he continued to spend countless hours practicing, training, and advancing his skills on the field. Now, as his college career is coming to a close, Scott recounts what a typical day would look like.

“In season, a typical day consists of lifting in the morning (if we have a lift that day), going to class, and then practice. After practice, you have a short amount of time to take care of whatever needs to be done that evening before going to bed and doing it over again the next day,” Scott said. 

Scott goes on to state that, contrary to popular belief, gamedays are actually easier for student-athletes.

“On a gameday, you just get to the field early and basically spend the whole day there instead of what feels like running around to lifts, classes, and practices.” he said. 

Scott expands on that feeling of “running around” by explaining that the biggest struggle he faces, like most athletes, is time management.

“I don’t feel like I get too overwhelmed with it, but I think the best way to manage your time is to have a plan for each day,” he said. “I balance everything I have to do by planning out my days in my head and writing down what I need to get done each day.”

Along the lines of that same thought, Scott also states that an obstacle that he has had to overcome throughout his career is keeping his mind in the right place when things aren’t going his desired way on the field.

“As far as keeping your mind in the right place, I think it’s different for each person, but for me what has worked is staying focused on what I can do to get better each day rather than letting the results control me,” he said. 

Speaking of results, Scott continues by saying that he thinks something that is often overlooked with baseball is the commitment it takes if you truly want to have success within the sport.

“To be able to make adjustments and implement them in your game successfully can take hundreds and even thousands of reps, and for a game of failure, it takes a lot of will-power to be able to keep going through that until you get to where you ultimately want to be,” he said. 

Although Scott has been highlighting many of the conflicts that he has had to combat during his many years of playing baseball, there are also multiple aspects of baseball that he really enjoys.

“I love the process of getting better, building a team, and competing at everything,” Scott said. “I love to be around the guys and going to work with them.”

In addition to the enjoyable features, Scott touches on a few advantages of being a student-athlete.

“It makes you learn to manage your time and develop a work ethic that leads to success,” he said. “It also gives you a group of guys you can lean on for anything. I believe many of the benefits of being a student-athlete will be realized later on in life.”

As for Scott’s future life plans, he will be retiring his glove and lacing up his work boots.

“After the current 2023 season, I am going to work for Mammoth Sports Construction in Kansas City,” Scott said. “Being a student athlete has prepared me for that next step in giving me a great work ethic and mental tools I believe I can use to be successful at anything.”

Even though Scott will no longer be playing for the Tigers, he has goals for the future of the program, which include laying a foundation and setting a culture this year that will be built on for success in years to come.

“I want to see this program winning the conference, going to the World Series, and getting guys to the next level. In order to do that, though there must be an investment from all that are involved with the program,” Scott said. “I believe we have the right coaching staff to get the program there and the culture/work ethic of the team is headed in the right direction.”

Scott continues by speaking from experience in his time at Cloud County CC and TCU.

“One of the most crucial tools for a baseball team is to create an environment for guys to get better on their own whenever they want,” he said. “Players are much more invested and care way more about the program this year than they have in the past couple years. The next step for this program is to gain the correct tools needed to be able to achieve those goals.”

Scott closes with a call to all Tiger supporters and fans.

“We need the athletics department, former players that want to see this program have success, supporters of the team, and anyone else who cares about Fort Hays Baseball to step up and help invest in the success of this program in any way that they can.”