Tech’s Dietrich juggles success on, off field

It started as an after-school hobby.

Pretty soon Derek Dietrich, Georgia Tech’s starting shortstop, could juggle not only bean bags but rings, bowling pins, machetes and flaming torches.

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Louie Favorite/lfavorite@ajc.com

Tech baseball player Derek Dietrich demonstrates his juggling skills in a dugout on the Tech campus. He spent two years in high school as a member of the St. Ignatius Circus Company, where he juggled for community service events and charities around his home in the Cleveland area.

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Dietrich honed his craft at a circus company run by his high school, St. Ignatius in Cleveland, Ohio. He juggled and clowned around at hospitals and charity events, and continues to perform at Tech community service outings.

“The other day he was juggling bowling pins and I told him, ‘You can’t do it with your eyes closed,’” said Dietrich’s roommate, pitcher Zach Brewster. “He stood there juggling with his eyes closed. Amazing.”

For Dietrich, the 2008 national freshman of the year according to Rivals.com, juggling goes hand in hand with baseball success.

“My mom always reminds me, ‘Make sure you keep juggling,’” Dietrich said. “She believes, and I’ve come to believe, that it definitely helps my fielding and hitting.

“Strengthening your eyes, watching where the ball is going, the movements with your hands, and your hands working in unison with your eyes. You have to use your peripheral vision when you’re throwing three, four, five balls.”

Dietrich is batting .354, second-best on the team, and has made five errors in 22 games. No. 3 Georgia Tech (18-4) visits Mercer Wednesday evening before hosting No. 6 North Carolina in a weekend series.

Dietrich isn’t the only performer in his family. His older sister, Dawn, is a former pro figure skater who starred in ice shows all over the U.S.

Dietrich caught the juggling bug when he was 10, when he saw a neighborhood friend tossing three bean bags.

“He showed me and got me on track,” recalled Dietrich, who eventually practiced four to five hours a week. “It’s kind of like playing the guitar: everyone wants to be good at it but at first it’s really difficult to pick up.

“Once I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed it and felt it was something that could help me on the baseball field.”