The night before the 2017 Northwoods League All-Star Game in Wausau, Wisconsin Rapids and South Division manager Craig Noto approached Wisconsin Woodchuck reliever Orsen Josephina in the hallway of the Stoney Creek Hotel.

“If we’ve got a lead in the game tomorrow night,” Noto said, “I’m putting you in.”

True to his word, once the South took a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth, Noto summoned Josephina from the bullpen, and the right-hander promptly struck out the two batters he faced to ice the win for his team.

That technically wasn’t a save situation, but late-inning, high-pressure scenarios are nothing new for Josephina, who leads the Woodchucks and is second in the NWL overall with 14 saves on the year. For him, the All-Star Game was a culmination of everything he had worked so hard to accomplish.

“It was a dream,” Josephina said. “Playing in the All-Star Game and playing in front of your own fans, wow. It was an awesome feeling, not only with getting to pitch at the end, but by getting to know more players, learning how they think. You keep learning every day, and being there was an awesome experience for me. I loved it.”

The righty from Curacao has shown a knack for high-leverage situations this summer, but it’s a bit of a new role for him. This spring at Hillsborough Community College in Florida, Josephina was a starter and threw more than 80 innings, but Hillsborough assistant coach and Woodchuck field manager Andrew Fabian said he wanted to preserve his pitcher’s arm, which meant a move to the bullpen for the summer.

“Not gonna lie, when I first got the call that I was going to be the reliever or closer, I was like, ‘Well, it might be kinda fun,’” Josephina said. “You have to max out. It’s one inning, do or done. For a while, I didn’t like it much, but eventually, I realized that I need to do whatever I can to get to the next level. So I was like, I’m gonna go out there and try my best, whatever position I’m going to play, whatever situation I’m going to pitch in, and that’s what I’ve been doing. And I’ve been loving it.”

That passion is reflected directly in his stats: Josephina has 14 saves in just 16 tries with 32 strikeouts against only seven walks in 24 innings pitched. But it hasn’t always been easy. Nobody can be perfect, he said, and it’s easy to get caught up in the pressure that comes from pitching with the game on the line.

“I remember, especially in Madison, I had to come in and close, and I could hear people screaming, ‘You’re gonna blow it!’” he said.  “After I closed there, I realized that I just need to compete with these guys and show them that I’m the guy that’s going to blow that fastball by you. It’s a blessing to be a closer, because it’s a tough job. Everything is on you. If you give up the lead, you get the loss, and it’s all on you, which was hard for me when I blew my first save.”

He converted his first five save opportunities this year before coming up short for the first time on June 12 against Battle Creek. But the most important thing, he said, is bouncing back. Fabian said shortly after that game that there was no one he trusted more to bounce back from a poor performance than Josephina, and the next time the Chucks had a lead in the ninth, Fabian put Josephina right back out there. True to form, Josephina delivered a perfect ninth with a strikeout to clinch a Wisconsin win over Craig Noto and Rapids.

Humble as ever, Josephina credited Fabian and the rest of his coaching staff in Wisconsin and at school with getting him to where he is now.

“Without him [Fabian], I probably wouldn’t be here,” Josephina said. “I thank him a lot for having trust in me and bringing me up here.”

Even still, he knows that the accolades bestowed upon him this summer are reflections of his success and ability. In addition to the All-Star Game in Wausau, Josephina was selected to the Major League Dreams Showcase in Madison, which honors the top 100 prospects in the Northwoods League, a recognition that Josephina said brought pride not only to himself but to his family back home in the Caribbean island of Curacao.

“I’m a really competitive guy and a real team-first guy, but sometimes you need to look out for yourself too,” he said. “My mom always taught me, don’t always help others. I love helping others, but she told me sometimes I need to take care of myself too. I realized that being on the All-Star team and in the Showcase would help make my name bigger and help me get closer to reaching my dream of playing Major League Baseball.”

After the summer, Josephina will be undergoing another big change, taking the leap from junior college to Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University this fall. He’s been taking classes all summer to get ready; he said he spends his few off days and most of his long bus rides reading textbooks, taking quizzes, and submitting projects. Being around other NCAA athletes has helped him with his education, but it’s also helped him become a better baseball player.

“This summer has really helped me prepare for Division II, especially because the conference I’m going to is a really good hitting conference,” Josephina said. “I’ve learned a lot about how to pitch against certain types of hitters, and I feel like I’m ready. I’m ready for the spring to come so I can help bring my team to the championship. That’s all I want to do from now on – help my team win a championship.”

It’s a little too late for a championship for the Chucks in 2017, but for a guy with the heart and compassion, not the mention the innate ability and talent, of Orsen Josephina, it’s not hard to imagine that there are plenty of titles to come for him in the future.

Tim Hackett, Broadcasting Intern