“We knew coming in that he was not going to contend for the Ivy League stolen base crown,” Walsh says. “He’s made himself a much better runner now. He’s worked hard at it.”

“Physically,” Walsh adds, “there’s a big difference in him than when he came in as a freshman.”

When asked about the role his work ethic has played in his rise to the top of the Ivies, Hendricks doesn’t pause before giving an answer.

“I’ve had to work for everything I’ve gotten,” the Houston native says with twanged conviction.

That “everything” will most likely be a mid-round selection by a Major League franchise in this year’s June Draft. Though his stock has been hurt by a bone chip in his knee which required offseason surgery—an injury that kept him from being drafted last June—and a poor, injury-riddled showing in Cape Cod (.216-2-10), playing at full health this season would go a long way towards trumping both setbacks.

Walsh said Hendricks’ ability to rake the ball with the league’s best last season with knee trouble should impress professional teams.

“I think there’s going to be a [Major League] team out there that’s going to be looking for him,” he said.

In the meantime, Hendricks will continue to represent the Lone Star state as Texas’ only player on the Crimson roster. He’s already got teammates listening to country music in the locker room before games and says he gets a hard time “about…wearing my boots.”

Focused, tough and wily, Hendricks’ four years playing ball at Houston’s Spring High School—where crowds push the thousands and alumni dot the Majors—accustomed him to the spotlight.

One of those alumni, Florida Marlin and World Series MVP Josh Beckett, played with Hendricks from 1998-1999. The two still talk on the phone “from time to time” and caught up during 2003 Marlins Spring Training in Jupiter, Fla.

Apparently, a Yankee Stadium World Series-clinching shutout hasn’t affected Beckett’s personality

“He’s still a good guy,” Hendricks says, laughing.

As Hendricks watches his teammate thrive in the Majors, he can’t help but wonder how far he can make it—though, as he says, not many had the talent the hard-throwing Beckett, who threw 96 mph as a senior, had as a teenager.

Hendricks cherishes his experience playing with Beckett—marked by the appearance of TV crews and as many as 40 scouts at any game—pondering, “hopefully [it’s] not once in a lifetime. Hopefully I’ll be up there some day.”

And that’s where the casual observer catches that Texas-bred fire inside the unassuming Hendricks. You see, Hendricks may not throw in the high 90s like Beckett, but every bit of him believes he can be a major league baseball player.