Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

After leading the Northwest Conference in RBIs and ranking 19th in innings pitched, Whitman College’s Aaron Cohen of Juneau earned a spot on the first team all-star team.

The senior was selected at utility, a fitting position given his do-it-all skill set.

Cohen led the league with 45 RBIs and 16 doubles, ranked seventh in home runs [4] and tenth in batting average [.346].

But it was his pitching prowess that made him the happiest.

“The improvement there was definitely what I thought was the coolest thing,” he told me. “I hit pretty well last year so I was hoping to improve on that, and I did. But I had some struggles pitching in the past with accuracy,”

Primarily he was issuing too many walks. However, those days are long gone. Cohen struck out 44 batters and walked 25 in 58 innings this year. Not bad for a guy who didn’t really start pitching until he arrived at NCAA D3 Whitman College four years ago.

He started his freshman season, but “that didn’t work out,” he said with a laugh. He moved to the bullpen, where he developed command and confidence. He started eight games this year, going 3-4 with a 3.41 ERA.

Hitting the ball, though, is his bread and butter. That’s his forte. Cohen hit .344 in 34 games as a junior.

He hopes to play professionally after he graduates.

“I have a few requirements before I finish up my geology degree, doing that during the summer,” he said. “I’m still holding out hope I get a call during the June draft. I’ve also thought about finding tryouts and going that way.

Playing professional baseball has always been the dream, so while it’s still in the realm of possibility I feel like I might as well take a shot. I don’t know how long I’m going to stick with it before I get a job. I’ve got something potentially lined up for the summer of 2015 so that gives me a year to see what’s out there.”