MORTENSEN WORKING HIS WAY THROUGH MINOR LEAGUES

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Former LSU Shreveport right hander pitcher Jared Mortensen has made plenty of strides in working toward his dreams of getting to the Major Leagues and he is not too far from there as he is currently with the Tampa Bay Rays organization as a starter for the Double-A affiliate in the Southern League, the Montgomery Biscuits.

Mortensen had a tremendous 2-year career at LSUS posting a 21-4 overall record with a career ERA of 2.62 in 185.1 innings pitched. "The most important thing I learned at LSUS was that talent doesn't mean victories. Talent only succeeds when you work at it, and without an entire team contributing no talent will ever beat hard work."

LSU Shreveport pitching Coach Brent Lavallee hopes that more players like Mortensen find their dream after dawning the Pilots' uniform, "Jared is a great example that hard work does pay off. His work ethic in the weight room, long toss, and during his bullpen sessions was second to none. He came to the yard every day with the intent to get better."

Surprisingly enough after a dominating senior season in 2012 where he earned Red River Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and was a First Team NAIA All-American, in a season where he was 12-1 with 1.67 ERA and had 139 strikeouts in only 113.1 innings pitched, no Major League team chose to take him in the draft so he decided to continue to pursue his dream began his professional career in Independent Baseball with the Grand Prairie AirHogs of the American Association.

It did not take too long for the scouts to recognize what he could do against a few former big leaguers, "I believe the Rays had been watching me since the middle of July when I had a pretty hot streak going," said Mortensen. "I know there was a scout at a game in Laredo in early August to see me pitch."

The Abbotsford, British Columbia, native learned a lot with the Independent organization, "It did not take me long to figure out that I could not blow the fastball by hitters anymore. I had to learn how to pitch to get outs and not depend on the strikeout as much as I used to."

Mortensen did not have to wait too much longer after that outing as he received a call from a scouting director with the Tampa Bay Rays, Jeff McLaren, who let him know that the Rays were about to sign him to a contract. The two side reached terms for a 7-year contract on August 15, 2013, which is pretty lengthy for a non-drafted free agent.

The 5-11 righty made his minor league debut five days later for the Fort Myers Miracle, the high A affiliate of the Rays. Mortnesen found the hitters in high A not as challenging as they were in the American Association, "In Grand Prairie I was facing a lot of former big leaguers who knew how to hit where as in Fort Myers I was facing a lot of young hitters who were learning how to hit." Morty breezed his way through the rest of the season with a perfect 2-0 record with a 1.04 ERA as he worked 17 and 1/3 innings while recording 18 strikeouts with just five walks as hitters only compiled a batting average of .133 against him.

This year he received an invite to Spring Training with the Rays where he met the big league club and manager Joe Maddon, "It was great to meet the guys and Joe Maddon. They are all down to earth and were very encouraging to me and all of us newer guys." Following the spring Mortensen was assigned to the Montgomery Biscuits.

He is the Biscuits' opening series starter with a 4-1 record with a 4.68 ERA through nine starts this season with 42 and 1/3 innings under his belt. Mortensen says what he learned and experienced success in the American Association has helped him tremendously in the minors, "The biggest things that made me successful was learning it's not how hard you throw. It's where you throw it and how you keep hitters off balance and keep them guessing."

"The only thing that really stands in the way of my success is going to be myself. If I can get over my personal limitations and perceived limitations then there's nothing I can't do," said Mortensen as he could be a late season call up or sooner should someone on the big league club go down with an injury.

From the NAIA to Independent ball to now the Minor Leagues Mortensen offers some advice to Pilot now and of the future, "My best word of advice to future pilots, is never give up on what makes you happy and don't ever let anything get in the way of what you want. If you can see it you can get it. If you can't perfect one thing don't try to do multiple things at the same, master your craft then add on to it. Baseball is all about adjustments. If it's not working don't change everything, adjust yourself and find the solution, don't just recognize the problem because that won't fix what's going on."

Coach Lavallee hopes future Pilots look to Mortensen as a model of how to approach the game, "As a coach, you can only hope younger guys saw how Jared handled his business and try to mimic it. Work ethic and the intent to get better are things that you cannot teach."