Putting on the same college baseball uniform is not always something brothers get to do, but for Josh and Jayson Rose, sporting the University of Utah colors together is something they have shared for the past three years. Josh, the older of the two, played his first season at Utah while his younger brother Jayson was back in California wrapping up his high school baseball career. Josh said the Utah coaches kept their eyes on his brother back home while Jayson was still unsure of what college to attend at the time. Never in a million years did Josh expect his younger brother to join him on the same college diamond.
“When I found out he committed to Utah, I was ecstatic” Josh said.
With a year under Josh’s belt, he had experience on board, and he was ready to help his brother get integrated into Pac-12 baseball.
“It was nice to have a familiar face out here,” Jayson said. “I mean [to] know what to do, know if I had any questions I had him there.”
The addition of the Rose brothers to the Utah baseball program has been huge. Four years later, Josh is now finishing his senior season with the Utes as the starting right fielder, and Jayson, who is a junior, takes the mound Friday evenings as the starting pitcher. The impact they have made on this team has surely been felt.
“I don’t know how many games Josh didn’t start, but there’s not many over the four years,” said Utah baseball head coach Bill Kinneberg. “For Jayson to be a Friday night guy for two years and a starter for three years and a starter as a freshman just tells you how valuable both of them have been for us.”
Not only have they been an important asset to the team, but they have been an important influence to each other. The brothers really pick each other up, rack each other’s brains, and they help make each other better.
Josh said they can talk to each other on another level other than their teammates, and he credits that to the relationship they have built. The chemistry they have also helps when one of the two may be struggling. Slumps are a part of baseball, and when things like that happen, they turn to each other to get over the roadblocks. Josh said that he will talk to Jayson, get his point of view and ask him what he sees when he needs help getting out of a rut.
“Throughout my whole life he’s been my motivation,” Josh said. “He’s the type of guy who just goes out and plays ball. I always try to work hard to be at his level on my off time. I love that kid to death. I’ve always tried to strive to be like him.”
Josh and Jayson share many of the same qualities on the field as they do off, and one of those key pieces to their success over the past few years is that they take the field to win each and every time they are under the lights. Kinneberg explained them best as being ultra-competitive kids, and that is something they both continually bring to the table.
“They are relentless workers,” Kinneberg said. “They have worked extremely hard in the off-seasons to make their bodies as good as they can, and they work extremely hard during the year to keep it up and get better. Those attributes along with the competitiveness have made them really good players for us.”
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