He’s gone from the Big Apple to the big leagues (roomed with former Chicago Cub Bobby Hill, also had Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff as teammates) to working in a small (Athens, pop. 13,334) Tennessee town.

Though Willie Bosque may not have been more than an average player whose career was cut short by a freak injury, his love of baseball never wavered and thanks to famed college coach Jim Morris his love of coaching began.

In his first season as head coach at Wheaton Academy, the team put together a memorable postseason run, which ended in a 1-0, eight-inning loss in the sectional semifinals.

Q How did you get started in scouting for the Padres?
A I got lucky. One of my best friends, Ash Lawson, was the head coach at Tennessee Wesleyan before I took over. He’s now the Southeast area scout for them. He called me to see if I’d be willing to help out the guy who heads the Midwest area and I said sure.

Q What does an associate scout do?
A You’re pretty much an assistant for the area scouts, who head each region of the country. If they can’t make it out to a certain game, they call you to see if you can go out there. Every once in a while you bump into a player that the area scout hasn’t seen and give him a heads up.

Q What was your baseball playing career like?
A I was a four-year starter at shortstop in high school, then played on a nationally-known travel team out of New York, the Bayside Yankees. That helped get me a scholarship to Miami, where I was moved over to second base because they already had a shortstop, (former Cub) Bobby Hill, who was also my roommate. I also played with guys like Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell. I was a really good defensive player and I knew how to play the game but I was nowhere near their talent.

Q How’d you get hurt?
A It was during summer ball after my freshman year. I was diving back to the bag to avoid a pickoff attempt and my throwing shoulder came completely out of socket. I didn’t think anything of it and tried to play with it but it kept getting worse. Two months later, I got an MRI and the doctors told me it was pretty bad. I had reconstructive surgery and that was it as far as my playing career went.

Q Have you found any differences between how baseball is played down south and here in the Midwest?
A Oh yeah. The biggest difference is definitely the speed of the game, even at the high school level. I’m sure part of it is that they get started outside in January and we’re still inside in late March. Down south, there’s a lot more bunting and running and putting a lot of pressure on teams. Up here, the thinking is `let’s outhit everybody’. And that’s what you have to do.

Q What are your duties as associate athletic director at Wheaton Academy?
A I’m pretty much doing all the day-to-day operations, like scheduling and coordinating travel, for athletic events. I also teach p.e. here.

Q What’s your favorite part about coaching?
A What I love best are the relationships, interacting with the kids. As a scout, you don’t have that tight-knit relationship with a kid. I love teaching them the game of baseball.

Q How/why did you come to WA?
A My wife and I got married at her father’s church up here. Then, I was in the process of talking to the head coach at Dartmouth for the position of recruiting coordinator there. With all of that, we found out we were going to have our first child and I couldn’t imagine my wife at home while I was on the road, so I had to step away from college baseball, which was tough. I started working at a fitness center in Carol Stream where I met Tom Jamerson’s (former Wheaton Academy athletic director) wife, who worked there as well. I told her my background and Tom called me six months later and asked if I’d like to help out with the JV baseball team. Two years after that, I got the varsity head coaching job.

Q What’d you think of your first year as head coach at WA?
A It was great. I couldn’t ask for anything more out of those boys. What those kids did, not folding, coming together and winning the regional, was phenomenal. What more could I want?