Texas Rio Grande Valley Athletics

As a freshman, John Bailey enjoyed the thrill of socking a home run in his second time at bat as a collegian.  He did it against Texas-San Antonio.     Bailey learned a lot as a freshman, chiefly by watching and in intrasquad games, because he played behind a senior, team leader Jeff Pool, who hit .282 with 44 hits while playing in 51 of UTPA's 52 games. However, Bailey did end up with a .222 average and a .556 slugging average because half of his base hits were that second-time-up homer.     Bailey proved he's a competitor by sparking Sam Rayburn High in Pasadena, Texas to a playoff victory, batting .309 with three homer as a HS senior. He played for Coach Bill Hurry.     At 6-0 and 185, John Bailey can handle the glove well - in fact he was a bullpen catcher for the Broncs when he redshirted his first year of college in 1996. He is majoring majoring in Business Management.