Bray Day - Episode 16

Aaron Bray was the 27th round draft pick for the Astros in last June's amateur draft. He was also the winner of the Astros County Adopt-a-Player contest. Each week, Aaron will write a column for Astros County detailing his off-season. Check the sidebar for archives.

Hello Fans,
I'm sure you all are excited as Spring Training is right around the corner. As I mentioned before, my days are usually filled with working out during the day. That normally lasts five hours. I am sure to make time to get some Call of Duty games in on my Play Station 3. After that I make time to take care of a recent addition to my family that would be my new puppy Astro (which was not the name I gave it, it came from my girlfriend). He is pretty energized and keeps me busy during the rest of the day into the night, and is fun to play with. That's really been my days this week. I have gotten after it in the weight room the last month and a half, and put on some good weight. Now I am working on getting faster. With steroids being cut out, I'm sure a lot of you have noticed the change of the game. You see more bunting, stealing and hit and runs. That will take me into my question for the week.

You are the all-time hits leader in UNC-Charlotte history. What were a couple of the biggest moments you enjoyed with the 49ers?

The way we played at Charlotte was that way. We bunted for hits (no sacrifices unless it was the 9th inning), we stole bases, and used our speed to beat teams. I enjoyed that a lot. Since the question asked me about big moments, I will brag for a second - which I hate doing because I go out and play hard every time, I am not a flashy player. But moments that I enjoyed were being a Freshman All-American and Conference Freshman of the year.

The reason why is because not too many freshmen get to see the field. I feel with those accolades it showed how dedicated and serious I was to my older teammates about playing this game and being a 49er. My sophomore and junior year we made it to the NCAA Tourney. My sophomore year we were one game away from a Super Regional and we broke many school records - one that sticks out is 49 wins. That team I played on my sophomore year is arguably the best Charlotte team. So to be a part of that was really cool. Since we made two NCAA Regionals we won our Conference Tourney twice, so I have two Championship rings. To have those rings and the memories is something I won't forget.

In my senior year I was fortunate enough to break a great player's record for hits in a career. I did it in a Conference tourney game that kept us from being eliminated. Also the fight our team had: we lost so many kids to injury, and a couple of us were playing hurt, so to win over 30 games and become the winningest class was cool. I also have to say beating UNC-Chapel Hill (on March 25, 2009; 2-1), who was ranked in the top 5 was really cool. After all the years of losing to them in the 9th inning, we finally got a win against them.

Really just being able to see the baseball team at Charlotte grow into what has become. My freshman year we played on a really nice field with a big section of bleachers. Those bleachers grew into a $6m stadium. Just to be a part of the rise of the baseball team is something I have enjoyed.

I hope all of you have a great week!!!
Aaron

Got a question for Aaron? Email astroscounty (at) hotmail.com