Derrick Chung of the Sacramento State Hornets has been forced to make adjustments he never in his life would have imagined. A shortstop all his life, Chung was thrown a curveball one morning when he strolled into the clubhouse to find his head coach, Reggie Christiansen, had marked a “C” by his name in the lineup.

“I saw the “C’ next to my name,” Chung said. “I said “Coach did you make a mistake?’ he said “No, you’re catching today.’ “Good to know, good to know,’ I said.”

From that point on Chung owned a new position. He went from the proverbial “captain of the infield” to the “quarterback” of his team. Both are leadership positions, but the differences can sometimes be staggering.

“First of all: At shortstop, I’m not sitting down,” Chung said, “My legs were never tired. When I’m catching, I’m facing everybody, so I feel the pressure that I have to be a good leader back there. When I’m at short you’re still a leader but not as much.”

Chung said the duties he has had to take on are a set very different from anything he has ever had to deal with. If a pitcher is getting trouble from a runner, it falls on Chung to handle him with a strike across the diamond. Once, Chung was receiving those throws and laying down those tags at second base, now he is dealing them.

“He’s got a 1.7/1.8 pop time,” said freshman starting pitcher Sam Kuykendall. “Just an absolute cannon. He’s real quick coming from the shortstop position.”

He may not be used to his new responsibilities, but his pitchers trust him.

“I didn’t know how I was going to do throwing to Chung,” Kuykendall said. “But from a pitcher’s perspective he calls a real good game, and if you give him a chance, he’ll hose (the runner) every time. I definitely feel very comfortable with him.”

Late in the game against UC Davis, with a runner on third, the Hornets led by one, a wild pitch was hurled Chung’s way.

“It was in the ninth inning and I was kind of freaking out back there,” Chung said. “No big deal, but my body just did it (blocked), I wasn’t even really thinking about it, I just did it. I feel pretty good out there doing it to be honest.”

The adjustments he has had to make are all duly noted by his teammates.

“I tell you what: Great player,” said center fielder Eli Davis. “This whole game, it’s a game of fairness. It’s a game of adjustments. And that’s exactly what Chung has been asked to do. He’s a leader on our team, one of the best players on our team, and he’s never caught before in his entire life but when that was an option in the fall, he took it upon his shoulders and all he does is work hard.”

With the announcement of freshmen Tanner Mendonca, Kuykendall and Dallas Chadwick as the teams’ first three starters, Chung could see his dilemma: He would have to deal with learning his new position, while at the same time handle a pitching staff who had never pitched in a collegiate game.

“I try to just keep them under control,” Chung said. “Make them breathe, just do the little things right. Just being a good teammate, on the field and off the field.”

But Chung’s head coach has no sympathy for his situation. After allChristiansen is in his own first season as head coach of the Hornets.

“He’s an athlete,” Christiansen said. “I think sometimes you get caught up too much in changing positions. I think the catching position is an athletic position. Look at Buster Posey – The San Francisco Giants’ catcher was a shortstop in college, so it’s not really a big deal.”

The Hornets can only hope for Chung to have the same success as Posey. If he does, the Hornets could be dog piling in the middle of some field, hoisting an NCAA College Baseball World Series trophy above their heads.

You can reach AJ Taylor at [email protected]