Aaron Brunk Profile

by Anuj Singh

Baseball is a part of life for Aaron Brunk.
“I started playing when I was five, because my dad played (in high school) and he wanted me play also,” Brunk said.
Brunk, 21, is a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University, he currently plays second base for the Broadway Bruins of the Rockingham County Baseball League, an amateur league in western Virginia.
Brunk played well enough to make second basemen for the Amateur Athletic Union’s (AAU) traveling team at the age of 12.
The AAU selects the best players from a region and places them on a team to travel around the country and play other similar teams. Between the ages of 12 and 15 Brunk’s bating average was.350.
“We played in Minneapolis my first year, Kinston NC, my second (year), and Sarasota (Fla.) in my third (year)” Brunk said.
Bobby Thompson, a longtime friend of Brunk’s, has played baseball with him since 1996.
“Aaron’s a real fiery guy, he’s a competitor, you don’t to mess with him on the baseball field, you might get a helmet thrown at you,” Thompson said.
“I like baseball because everyone’s individual effort is needed to succeed," Brunk said.
Brunk wants to earn a bachelor’s degree in mass communications so he can cover baseball and other sports for a living.
“I like baseball, but I wouldn’t mind reporting on football, too,” Brunk said.
Brunk’s major at VCU is broadcast journalism.
“During the summer I worked at this radio station in Bridgewater,” he said. “I operated sound boards during (baseball) games, I’ve also done a lot of late night on-air work where I make my own playlists,” Brunk said.
Brunk admits that baseball is not as popular as it once was.
“I think baseball is boring to people because the same teams win all the time; there’s no parody like there is in football,” Brunk said.
Looking back, Brunk is glad to have found his focus
Brunk wasted sometime after high school, and was not serious about school.
“I like the progress I’m making now; I’m serious about school now,” Brunk said.
When Brunk isn’t playing baseball, he’s following his favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles. Brunk and his friend Thompson follow them together.
“Aaron and I are huge baseball fans,” Thompson said.