Athlete of the Week: Summer off does Titans’ Bristow good

Kevin Bristow was in desperate need of a break from baseball. He had just wrapped up his sophomore year at Poway High, going one for his last 20 with seven strikeouts.

“I was struggling a lot and striking out a ton,” he said. “I was not enjoying it. I just wanted to take a break from the game in the summer and clear my mind.”

Taking a break is almost unheard of nowadays. Specializing in one sport and playing it year around starting at a very young age is normal. Anything else is not ordinary. But Bristow was teetering down the path of maybe never playing again.

“I thought about that a little,” he said. “But I have been playing since I was 6 and I couldn’t imagine watching the baseball team playing and not being out there.”

So, instead of playing baseball last summer, Bristow lifted weights, worked with a sprint coach and took hitting lessons. His confidence blossomed and his mental approach at the plate grew more than it ever could have playing summer ball.

Now the Titans are reaping the benefits.

Bristow, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound, right-handed hitting junior, went from being a .287 hitter last season to a .446 batter this year. He has produced 33 hits, 22 RBIs and four home runs — one of those a 360-foot bomb over the left-field wall at Petco Park – out of the No. 4 slot for Poway.

“The key to my season has been a mental switch and my confidence,” he said. “I just developed a rhythm at the plate and things just started flowing and kind of took off from there.”

A new approach at the plate has also helped. Bristow has learned to use the entire field, looking for fastballs away and believing in his hand speed to adjust to the inside heater.

“I am looking for a fastball over the plate in the beginning of the count,” he said. “I pretty much am always looking away and I have the confidence in my hands to get to the inside pitch. And when I look away it is easier to adjust and see a curveball.”

Bristow’s hitting approach isn’t the only thing he needed to work on this year. After playing shortstop the first two seasons for Poway, he was moved to first base this year.

“That was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be,” Bristow said. “I thought the first baseman just goes to the bag and catches the ball, but after making some bad judgements on some throws early I realized footwork is so important. I struggled at first, but now I am used to it.”

Bristow said the move from shortstop to first base relaxed him.

“I love playing shortstop, but there is a lot more responsibility and mental toughness that comes with playing there compared to first base,” he said. “First base kind of relaxed me a little bit. I think moving there helped me not press as much as I did sophomore year.”

Bristow leads the hot-hitting Titans in batting average, RBIs, doubles and home runs. Poway entered this week in a first-place tie with Torrey Pines in the Palomar League. The Titans last won the league title in 2010.

“There is definitely a lot more confidence in our team than in years past,” Bristow said. “Everyone has a little more pep in their step. It is just a good energy and a good vibe right now.”

And that’s something Bristow sorely missed a year ago.

“It was hard,” he said. “But I am thinking of playing on a summer ball team this year. I am enjoying baseball again.”