Thrower brothers live up to childhood titles

When Jake and Judd Thrower were youngsters, their parents had T-shirts made for each of them.
 
The one that said, 'Little Slugger' belonged to Jake, and the one that said, 'Coach' clothed Judd's back.
 
Years later, the two brothers and former Yuma High baseball standouts, would go on to live up to those titles.
 
Judd, who is two-years younger than Jake, entered the coaching ranks shortly after finishing his collegiate playing career at NCAA Division I University of Texas-Arlington, while Jake went on to spend nine years in the minor leagues, reaching the Triple-A level with four different Major League organizations.
 
"When I was just finishing my college career and becoming a coach at the college level, it was interesting because I was always the guy throwing BP and hitting ground balls to help him out - kind of like he was still the player and I was the coach," Judd said. "We have a nice relationship. With his success I kinda felt successful as a coach as well, not that I helped him out all that much, but you like to believe you had something to do with it."
 
And while the two were at Yuma High, Jake did his best to help out Judd.
 
Jake graduated from Yuma in 1994. He was a four-year letterman in baseball and soccer and was an all-state selection in both sports his senor year.
 
Judd graduated in 1996. He was an all-region third baseman and first-team all-conference his junior and senior years, and he was also the captain of the soccer team as a senior.
 
They played one season of varsity baseball together when Jake was a senior and Judd a sophomore. Judd added that Jake was always very supportive, from helping him with what to expect at the varsity level to preparing for college and beyond.
 
"At that age you don't always hang around each other," Judd said, "but he was always looking out for me and I tried to do the same for him."
 
"We had our little brotherly squabbles, but blood was definitely thicker than water," Jake added. "I tried to be the best mentor I could and give him as much advice as I could. He had a pretty good idea of what was going on anyway, but I threw my two cents out there every now and then."
 
In Jake's last season at Yuma High, Judd got a rare start as a sophomore in a state playoff game against Trevor Browne. They both belted home runs in that game.
 
"(Jake) was a stud in high school, and just for me to be able to play with him and for us to both do well in the same game was neat," Judd said.
 
For all his accomplishments at Yuma High, Jake added that his favorite memory was watching his little brother help the team.
 
"That was pretty neat for me to play with my little brother in my last high school game and have him hit a home run for us," Jake said. "We lost the game, but it was awesome to see him succeed."
 
The Thrower brothers played together one last time on a Babe Ruth team the summer after Jake graduated. The team also featured family friend Richy Leon, now the head baseball coach at Kofa, and reached the Babe Ruth World Series in Wharton, Texas.
 
"That was a tremendous experience. I think that was one of the highlights for me in baseball," Jake said. "I think we went two-and-barbecue, but just that whole experience was amazing. They treated us like royalty and I think we represented our city really well."
 
Judd went on to play two years at Arizona Western College, where he was an all-region performer. At Texas-Arlington he was second-team all region and won a Southland Conference championship his junior year.
 
After his collegiate career, Judd was an assistant coach at the University of North Alabama before returning to Yuma to help out at AWC. He is now in his fifth year as the head baseball coach at his alma mater, Yuma High.
 
"The plan was to stay in baseball. I wasn't great at much else besides baseball," Judd said. "I didn't have much of a chance to go on afterwards at the pro level, so I decided to get my education, pursue coaching and stay in the game for as long as I could."
 
While Judd was making his mark as a coach, Jake was plugging along in the minors.
 
Jake spent three years playing for the University of Arizona under former Wildcat legendary coach Jerry Kendall. He was all Pac-10 honorable mention as a freshman and team captain by his junior year.
 
Jake signed with the San Diego Padres after his junior year at UA. His minor-league career spanned nine seasons, within the Padres, Angels, Expos and Indians organizations, and he played in several spring training games. He had a career .277 batting average with 35 homers.
 
"I was an injury away from getting my opportunity (in the majors)," Jake said. "It just seemed as though nobody got injured when I was knocking at the door."
 
Jake's best season was the next to last year he played, when he hit .298 with seven home runs in 2004 with the Salt Lake Stingers - the Angels' Triple-A affiliate. By 2005, a fourth knee surgery forced him to retire.
 
"I just wanted to be able to play catch, be able to coach, walk around and be functional," Jake said. "I didn't make the goal I wanted, but I gave it 100 percent and that's about all you can do as an athlete."
 
Three years removed from his playing days, Jake, like Judd, is trying on the 'Coach' shirt. He was an assistant to Judd the last two years at Yuma High and will spend this season helping out at AWC.
 
"He's trying to get his feet wet in the coaching department since this is only his third year not playing," Judd said. "He did a great job with all those kids. They really looked up to him and enjoyed his tutelage."

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Derrik Miller can be reached at dmiller@yumasun.com or 782-6520.