Athlete Spotlight: LCC's Shane Juday

The Lookout Staff Writer Jonah Unger recently interviewed third-year LCC baseball player Shane Juday about his passion for the sport of baseball.

Who or what was your biggest inspiration to start playing baseball?
“My father was my biggest inspiration to start playing ball. He played for Michigan State and was a professional baseball player. When I learned all this, I knew it is something I wanted to pursue.”

How old were you when you first started playing?
“I started playing baseball when I was 4.”

What team is your favorite baseball team?
“The Detroit Tigers.”

Who is your favorite player and why?
“My favorite player is obviously my dad (Richard Juday). But if I had to pick a current player it would be (Los Angeles Dodger) Freddie Freeman. … I love the way he plays and the person he is outside of baseball.”

What position do you play?
“I play second base for the Stars.”

What is your favorite thing about baseball as a sport?
“The grind that comes with playing. It isn’t a sport that you can just show up and play each and every day at a high level. You have to physically and mentally prepare each and every day to even have a chance at being a great baseball player.”

What is your favorite thing about playing for LCC?
“We have our own standards here at LCC and we play to those standards. We don’t strive to outplay our standards and we don’t play down to others’ standards. We have our standards and we believe in that process always.”

Where do you strive to improve most as a player?
“I intend to continue to improve on the mental side of baseball for as long as I play. Baseball is a super hard sport; arguably the hardest sport to play. There is a lot of failure in the sport and you have to learn to deal with it, and not get so hung up on those failures. Training the brain to move on from those failures … is hard for a lot of players, so doing everything that I can to improve and get better on that side of it would be most beneficial.”

What is your major in college?
“My intended major at my next school is Architecture and Design, but here (at LCC) I just am achieving my general associate (degree).”

What are your plans after LCC?
“My plans after LCC are undecided, but I do know that I intend to get my bachelor’s and master’s degree in architecture from another school. Baseball is still in the picture, but I’m not sure what the best option is for me just yet.”