BLANCO, Texas — From throwing strikes on the pitching mound to picking up after strikes in a bowling alley, Conner Chase is used to being busy.
The Blanco junior is a multi-sport athlete, competing in baseball and basketball for the Panthers. He’s also a straight-A student who sports a 4.0 GPA, good enough for No. 2 in his junior class. If that weren’t enough, he squeezes in a part-time, old-school job.
“Relaxation? I guess just sleep,” said Chase about his busy schedule. “That's about it.”
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“A lot of it is just internal motivation to do as good as I can and succeed,” Chase said.
That mindset has helped him excel in both academics and athletics as a newcomer to Blanco this school year. He’s helped the Panthers baseball team to a top-10 ranking in Class 3A this spring.
“Usually new kids, it takes a while for them to get used to everybody,” said Blanco coach Bryan Wyatt.
That wasn’t the case with Chase, who’s become nearly indispensable as Blanco searches for a second state tournament berth in three years.
“Very few times, we have kids like Connor come through our program. I’ve seen them all, believe me, good ones and bad ones, and he ranks way up there,” Wyatt said.
Chase said his parents encouraged him and his younger brother to stay active growing up. That suggestion has now turned into a way of life.
“School to sports and then back to school,” said Chase about his regimen. “I can’t play sports if I don’t keep my grades up. I got about two hours of homework every night.”
The daily grind of athletics and academics is plenty to handle for most teenagers, but a kid like Chase isn’t wired to sit still. For a few hours each week, he also works as a pinsetter at the Blanco 9-Pin bowling alley.
“I just think everything is fun,” said Chase about the job. “I call it the sweatshop just because I always get super sweaty back there.”
The working conditions in the lanes are less than ideal and the tasks – resetting knocked down pins and rolling the ball back to bowlers – are straight from the early 1900s. Chase said he took the job after his neighbor, who’s a co-owner, told him about the flexible hours fitting into his full schedule.
It was a must for a kid who doesn’t waste a minute in his day.
“Sports always keeps me going, so I'm never stagnant, and I'm always learning new things,” Chase said.
Curiosity that breeds an eclectic life in the classroom, on the field or at the bowling alley.
“I think the biggest challenge is always trying to get better and better,” Chase said. “You can never be perfect, so that's what I'm striving for.”