After producing the likes of Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Wyatt Young, Kodey Shojinaga appears to be next in a line of elite shortstops to come out of Mid-Pacific.
Shojinaga has quickly emerged as the starting shortstop at the University of Kansas as a true freshman, where he’s currently hitting .374 with five home runs.
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Shojinaga is currently on a six-game hitting streak after seeing a streak of 11 games with a hit come to an end, making quite the recovery at the plate after breaking his hand over the summer.
“I felt like once I got back, I made it and I put on myself to work hard every single day. And I made sure that I was going to make an impact on this team,” Shojinaga told KHON2 sports director Rob DeMello.”
“I feel like I had a little adversity in the beginning, made it really clear for me that I was going to have to work that much harder to catch up, and then I was going to have to work even harder to get to everyone’s level and pass them after that. So I feel like everything does happen for a reason, but you also have to make things happen.
“You can’t just let it happen. Working really hard and watching it pay off really makes it fun for me. Trying to keep the game as simple as possible and just playing the game that I grew up loving and making everyone in my family proud and I feel like that’s what helps me keep playing this game every day.”
The Jayhawks (19-21, 5-10 Big West Conference) will play Wichita State this week.
