The 2013 baseball season proved to be an up-and-down campaign for former Defiance High School pitching standout Justin Hancock.

Hancock, a 2009 graduate of Defiance and a 2011 ninth-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres from Lincoln Trail Junior College, started off 2013 right where he left off in 2012. After finding his groove late in 2012 with the Eugene Emeralds (Single-A Short Season), the righty raced out to a 5-1 record with the Fort Wayne TinCaps (Single-A) this season.

At the All-Star break, Hancock was promoted to the Lake Elsinore Storm (Single-A Advanced) where the jump in competition, along with playing in small ballparks, led to some struggles.

"At Fort Wayne I started the season very strong, I felt like I had learned from my mistakes in 2012 and I just pitched with a lot of confidence," said Hancock, who had a 1.73 ERA in 12 starts (672⁄3 innings) with 44 strikeouts and 20 walks. "I was throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes and I didn't walk a lot of guys. My focus was on one day at a time and that was working for me."

At Lake Elsinore, Hancock found as the season went along, that he wasn't staying within himself or attacking hitters like he did at Fort Wayne. He also battled shoulder fatigue during the campaign.

"The California League is a hitters' league, that's for sure," Hancock said. "When I was called into the manager's office in Fort Wayne to let me know I was going to California, I was told to keep the ball down. I tried to do that, but I was pitching too fine and I tried to be perfect.

"The ballparks there are small and the wind blows hard at most of them," added Hancock. "I think the only ballpark in the league that plays true is ours. Also, a lot of the parks are in high altitude, so the ball doesn't move as much as it normally would. It was frustrating, but I learned a lot there."

At Lake Elsinore, Hancock made 14 starts and finished with a record of 3-7. In 63 innings on the hill, the lanky right-hander struck out 39 and walked 36, finishing with an ERA of 5.14. Hancock finished strong, however, winning his final start on Sept. 1 against High Dessert.

"It was a big plus to finish strong, that helped my confidence," said Hancock. "I fought through some shoulder weakness too, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't pitch through. I was pitching every six days at Fort Wayne and every five days at Lake Elsinore, and the truth is that's the most innings I've ever pitched in a season.

"Now that the season is over, I've been resting and once October rolls around, I'll get back to work on strengthening the shoulder and just getting stronger all around," continued Hancock. "Like I said, I hadn't thrown that many innings ever in a season, so the rest has been nice. Once January is here, I'll head out to (Peoria) Arizona with Matt (Wisler of Bryan, also in the Padres organization), to get to work in the warm weather to be ready for spring training."

Hancock, who throws his fastball consistently 92-94 miles an hour, also picked up a slider this year to go along with his change-up and curveball. When spring arrives, Hancock is hoping to prove he's ready to take the next step up the ladder in the organization to Double-A San Antonio.

"It's up to me to prove I can take that next step this spring, so being ready to perform when spring starts is going to be big for me," concluded Hancock. "The thing about this game is that it's always fun when you're doing well, but it can be tough when you aren't having success. But, I love the game, I love going to the park and I love playing with a great group of guys in this organization. I've got a lot of work to do this off-season, and I'm ready to get it done."