James Hopes to Lead Ballwin to District Title

Josh James takes baseball very seriously. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t having fun.

Despite a .380 batting average in 2010 as a senior at Lafayette, the Southeast Missouri State student decided not to play baseball for the Red Hawks.

He is in his second summer with the Ballwin American Legion Post 611 team and is enjoying a stellar season.

“Every summer I have a blast,” said James, who leads Ballwin with 111 at-bats and is among the team leaders with a .341 batting average and 24 runs batted in. “I love the coaches and I love the players. It’s always a fun time. There’s no pressure and I’m not worried about playing in college.”

Just don’t think James isn’t a fierce competitor.

“He takes everything seriously the minute he steps out here,” Ballwin manager Sean Rogan said. “We’ve got a good atmosphere. It’s relaxing and everybody has a good time. When it’s time to get serious, we get serious.

“I’d love to see him play college because he’d be a great ballplayer. But he made that choice and wants to focus on school. Here he’s playing like he’s got nothing to lose, and in a way he doesn’t.”

The Wildwood resident and oldest of three children to Robert and Christa James is Rogan’s leadoff hitter. In a June 1 game against Jennings, James went 2-for-3 with a grand slam, a triple, a walk, seven RBIs and three runs scored.

“He comes out and plays hard every day,” Rogan said of James. “He works his at-bats like a leadoff hitter should. We’re fortunate because he’s good everything. He drives in runs, scores runs, runs the bases.”

Defensively James is just as solid, making a seamless transition from shortstop to second base.

“He made that move like he’s been playing it for 20 years,” Rogan said of the former high school outfielder. “He’s been terrific for us.”

James has received several accolades for his play this summer. He said he likes the recognition, then quickly deflected much of the credit to his teammates.

Ballwin entered this weekend’s Fourth of July Tournament of champions with a 19-7 record and an 8-4 mark in District 10 play – just half a game behind Manchester Post Post 208. The two teams play each other in the regular season finale on July 7.

Playing in his final year of Legion eligibility, James said he wants to go out with a bang.

“Trying to win districts this year, hopefully,” James said. “We lost the last two years in the championship game to Eureka. I definitely want to get there this year and I think we have a good shot of winning (the zone tournament).”

And as far as continuing his baseball career at SEMO, James said, “I might try to walk on next year.”