PEORIA, Ariz. -- With spring training winding down and another minor league baseball season just around the corner, former Defiance High School ace Justin Hancock is hoping to take yet another step toward the ultimate goal of reaching Major League status.
Hancock, a 2009 DHS grad, capped off a year full of twists and turns in 2013.
After being drafted by the San Diego Padres organization as a ninth-round pick out of Lincoln Trail Junior College in 2011, the 6-4 right-hander split time last summer between stints with the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps and the Single-A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm.
Hancock's impressive 5-1 record out of 12 starts - including 44 strikeouts, 20 walks and 1.73 ERA through 67 2/3 innings - earned the Defiance native a promotion to Lake Elsinore.
Once there, the local minor league hopeful finished the year at 3-7 through 14 starts, fanning 39 and walking 36 with an ERA of 5.14 through 63 frames.
Having battled through the rigors of increased mound time over the course of last summer's learning experience, Hancock looked forward to the future and what he needed to strive for.
"It's up to me to prove I can take that next step this spring," he told The Crescent-News in a September postseason wrap-up. "So being ready to perform when spring starts is going to be big for me."
Following some brief down time and much-needed rest, Hancock - along with fellow Padres minor leaguer and Bryan grad Matt Wisler - made the early trip to Peoria, Ariz., to begin honing his pitching arsenal for the upcoming campaign.
While not scheduled to report to Peoria until Feb. 28, Hancock headed west nearly six weeks early on Jan. 18, trading the northwest Ohio deep-freeze in to work out under the warm Arizona sun.
"You can't really throw in Ohio much. I got down here (to Arizona) and I could do more long-toss than I could back at home," he said. "It's really helped me out a lot, as it has in the previous three years. I feel like coming down here early has worked out really well for me."
The onetime Bulldog's daily routine has consisted of a 6:30 a.m. trip to the Peoria Sports Complex for any necessary treatment before plenty of attention to mechanics on the mound.
With a fastball clocking near the low to mid-90s, Hancock has also been paying attention to detail on his slider, change-up and curveball through plenty of physical and mental repetition.
"I've just been working on my timing and repeating my delivery," he said. "The pitching is there, it's just a matter of repeating my delivery, attacking the zone and getting my mind right."
Still uncertain of whether or not he will make the jump to Double-A San Antonio, Hancock has spent spring training working with the El Paso roster, a Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, where he has seen five innings of action in two spring games, the most recent outing being three frames on Tuesday.
As he explained, though, it is customary to work with a more advanced group in the spring than where a player may find his calling to start the official season.
"We have working rosters right now, and we usually don't find out until the last week in March where we're gonna go," Hancock explained. "It's the same thing each year. They like to keep you guessing, I guess.
"I'm in the El Paso group right now, so hopefully I'll be in San Antonio," he added.
But regardless of where Hancock's current season begins and where it takes him, he remains focused on persistence in climbing the ladder to every minor league prospect's dream job.
"My ultimate goal is to get to San Diego," he concluded. "That's the only real goal I have … to get to that point and stay there somehow. I'm just looking to have a good year."