Two years have passed since Jeff Price graduated from Escambia Academy, and in those two years, Price has kept busy with school, work and playing baseball.

Price is about to begin his second year at Faulkner State Community College after spending his first year out of high school at the University of West Florida.

“Straight out of high school, I went to West Florida for a year where I red-shirted,” Price said. “Last year, I transferred to Faulkner State Community College where I’m a pitcher.”

His first season with the Faulkner State Sun Chiefs was successful individually as well as for his team.

The Sun Chiefs finished the 2010 season with a 28-21 record overall and went 22-8 in the Alabama Community College Conference, which was good enough for a runner-up finish behind Southern Union Community College as the Sun Chiefs lost 8-1 in the championship game.

The Sun Chiefs put together a strong finish during the second half of the season with Price recording work in several innings, he said.

“We ended up placing second in the conference losing to Southern Union in the championship,” Price said. “During the season, I recorded a lot of work on the mound and pitched somewhere around 60 innings. I ended up second on the team in ERA with a 3.42.”

With school out for the summer, Price is spending his time working out and working a summer job.

As a counselor at the Atmore Area YMCA, he is using his job to help him with his major in college. He added that he has also been developing a better relationship with religion.

“This summer, I’m working at the YMCA to keep myself busy during the off season,” he said. “I’m enjoying my time working with the kids and it’s going to help me with my major in special education. I’m also getting deeper in to devotions and getting closer to Christ. I spend a lot of time at church and speaking to kids at camps and getting into the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.”

Making a roster at the college level is something that Price has learned to approach with maturity.

The business atmosphere is different than high school and hard work is what keeps him on the team, he said.

“In high school, we were playing with our friends, so we would joke around and cut up,” he said. “We would have a good time in practice and we didn’t take it that serious. At the college level, things are difficult because you are battling to keep your position. It’s like a business. It’s a privilege compared to high school where you just have the right to be on team. It’s fighting for a job every day.”

As a college pitcher, Price has been coached on how to utilize his talents as well as how to improve them.

Pitching in college has brought more knowledge on how to pitch along with new pitches, Price said.

“When I was pitching in high school, I could get by with two pitches because I could just blow it by guys,” he said. “Now, I have to know how to spot my pitches and learn how to throw a change up and a splitter for strikes. In college, you learn how to pitch compared to high school where you just learn how to throw.”

Price hopes to continue his baseball career following his second and final season at Faulkner State, but said he wants to complete his degree more than anything.

“This will be my last year at Faulkner, so I’m hoping to take my talents to Auburn University-Montgomery,” he said. “I’m hoping that works out. I’ve talked to them a little bit. Really, I’ll go anywhere, I just want to play baseball. I’m more focused on getting my degree though because I know baseball will only go so far.”