Josh Day has a bit of an advantage when he's hurling a baseball to home plate with the game on the line.

"He has a little bit higher velocity than most high school pitchers," Corey Gochee, Woodland's head coach, said. "It's caused some problems for opposing hitters."

That velocity -- from 86 to 91 miles per hour -- also is a reason Day has just signed a scholarship to play ball at Calhoun Community College, in Decatur, Ala.

He also is an intense player, his coach said.

That intensity starts when Day first trots out to the mound and doesn't let up until the last ball has been hurled and, hopefully, his team has notched another "W."

"He takes it personal when he's pitching and uses it to fuel himself," Gochee said. "He's a very intense ballplayer. We really try to help him use that to his advantage."

The coach said that's why Day closes for the team, although he also starts, too.

"He doesn't get rattled," Gochee said. "Some pitchers can't control that intensity, but he's focused from the word go."

Day said his fastball is his "go-to" pitch and he tries to put it on the inside to reduce the amount of time hitters have to react.

"It's harder for them to get around on it," he said. "It kinda ties up their hands."

Like a lot of Bartow County baseball players, Day doesn't actually recall when he started liking the game.

"I've always known playing baseball," he said. "I've played it since I can remember, probably since age 5."

The early days he played with the Bartow County Recreation Department, starting in T-ball, moving to baseball and then to Woodland Middle School and summer ball later on.

He said he was about 12 when he started pitching, adding he taught himself.

Day said his travel ball and school coaches helped him improve his pitching skills, crediting everyone from coach Gochee and Jamie Crane [his travel ball mentor] to coach Michael Adcock, who helped during his year at Excel, and middle school coaches.

Day also has made contributions to the Wildcats at first base, right field and with a bat.

He admitted that while he likes contributing any way he can, he enjoys slapping the ball around from the batter's box.

"When I'm hitting good," he said, "I like hitting more."

The Woodland coach said Day has a variety of pitches -- a fastball, breaking ball, a changeup and a splitter -- that will make him an asset to Calhoun Community College.

His hurling stats last season included pitching 38.3 innings, striking out 46, surrendering 27 bases on balls, allowing 36 hits, giving up two home runs and finishing with an ERA of 3.47.

He appeared in 25 games, earning a 4-2 record and two saves.

"There's no doubt he will be one of their best pitchers and he will make their staff better," Gochee said.

The coach said Gochee will play for the Wildcats on days he's not pitching, too: "He plays first and right field for us. Hopefully he will keep working on those positions at Calhoun as well as pitch."

From the offensive side, he scored eight runs, got 19 hits, including 13 singles, three doubles and three home runs. Day's hitting average was .365, with a slugging percentage of .596 and an on-base percentage of .424.

Pitching will be a big part of his final year as a Wildcat.

"We'll probably use him as a starter one game and as a closer the rest of the week," Gochee said.

Day said he intends to focus on his "core courses" while at Calhoun, adding his long range interests include working in the criminal justice system.

He said at the end of the two years at Calhoun he will explore what options he has in baseball.

"I'd like to play at a four-year college," he said, "such as KSU (Kennesaw State University) or somewhere like that."

His more immediate plans, however, include a successful final year for Woodland.

"I want to beat Cass, win regionals and then state," he said.

He said Cass is at the front of his list of things to do in baseball for a reason.

"Cass has always been our rival," he added.