Joe Prior has made his presence known at Servite High School the past four years.  He has been a varsity starter for the past three.  Prior led the Friars in homeruns this year with six.  In addition he had 35 hits, 23 RBI’s and 15 runs.  

“I don’t want to leave home,” said Prior.  “But you have to do what you have to do.”  Prior grew up in Los Alamitos and is very close to his family. 

His most fond memories at Servite are when he got pegged by a ball in the Santa Margarita game for a walk off run and also when his entire team stood by him and attended his mother’s funeral. 

He is excited to play baseball at Fresno State and his two biggest goals there are to start as a freshmen and to lead the team to a NCAA Championship.

Prior is a hard worker.  This season he stayed after practice until 8:30pm every night to hit with the coaches. 

“I want to especially thank Coach Sears, Coach Page, Coach Stroud and Coach LaMonda,” said Prior.  “Coach LaMonda and Coach Stroud used to stay after practice with me and throw to me for hours to help me with my hitting.”

Coach Page set up the tryout with Fresno State and Prior knew it was the right choice for him to play at the next level. 

His advice for those who want to play baseball at a high level is, “Practice hard because nothing is given, you can never stop working hard.”

Servite congratulates Joe Prior on his success and wishes him the best at Fresno State and beyond.