SMCC's Bryce Windham comes home to play against Mud Hens
TOLEDO – Bryce Windham has played on a lot of big stages in his career – from Ford Field in Detroit to Comerica Park to college baseball stadiums up from Virginia to Florida.
This week, Windham is added another unique venue to the list of places he’s played in as his Iowa Cubs visited Fifth Third Field in downtown Toledo, home of the Mud Hens.
“This was a big one because so many family and friends could see me play,” Windham said. “The cool thing was a lot of the people who were at the game haven’t seen me play in like eight years. They know I’ve been playing, but they haven’t watched me. It’s cool that they came out.”
Windham plays for the Cubs, the AAA-affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. He’s batting over .300 in his first season at the AAA level.
“Things are great,” Windham said. “I’m hitting pretty well. I just have to keep my foot on the gas for the last month.”
On Tuesday, he went 0-for-3 while drawing a walk and scoring a run. On Wednesday he was 2-for-4 at the plate, scoring twice.
In Tuesday’s game he made two impressive defensive plays. Early in the game he scooped up a wild pitch that landed just out in front of the plate and threw it to third base to gun down a Mud Hen trying to get to the bag. Later in the game he threw a pin-point ball to second base, taking out a runner trying to steal.
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Windham said making plays like those keeps his name fresh to the Cubs management.
“Anything to show the big-league club I can play at a high level,” he said. “I’m very fortunate I can make throws like that – keeps my name in the conversation.”
A 2015 SMCC graduate, Windham played four years of college baseball at Old Dominion University in Virginia. He was drafted by the Cubs and has been playing minor league baseball since. Each of the past two seasons he’s been invited to the Cubs spring training in Arizona.
“I just tried to make the most of it,” he said. “I try and take advantage of any opportunity to learn, be around the guys and be in the clubhouse.”
This year he was assigned to Iowa. He immediately checked the schedule to see when the Cubs played in Toledo.
“That’s been circled on the calendar a while now,” he said. “When I broke my thumb the second week of the season, I was glad that it was early in the season so I could be back now playing. I’ve been focused on staying healthy and getting to Toledo.”
On Tuesday, Windham had numerous family and friends at Fifth-Third Field cheering him on. Several of his former high school coaches were there to watch, along with SMCC community members.
“It was great seeing all the people supporting him in the stands,” his father, Randy Windham, said.
This week was anything but typical for Windham. While in the area, for example, he was able to schedule some meetings about his upcoming wedding and golf with friends. He stayed at his house in Monroe.
“It was very weird,” he said. “Usually when I’m home I’m not playing or I’m on a break or something. It was different.”
Before the game he came out of the dugout early to talk with people who made the trip and hung around after the game as well.
This offseason Windham plans to ramp up his focus on baseball as his quest to get to the Major League Cubs continues.
“I’m going to turn up the dial a little bit on hitting and catching,” he said. “If I’m going to do this, I need to go all the way.”
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: SMCC's Bryce Windham comes home to play against Mud Hens
