College baseball: Bo Fisher ready to take potent bat to BYU

The "Fun Fact" answer on Bo Fisher's page of the Salt Lake Community College baseball media guide perhaps is the most interesting of all the Bruins.

The former American Fork High standout catcher once slapped a squirrel.

"I was at Zion National Park and everyone feeds the squirrels, so they're not scared of people," Fisher said. "I acted like I was going to feed him, and I slapped him."

Fisher treated opposing pitchers much the way he did that rodent, man-handling them at the plate. He was second on the team with a .340 average this season, and he led the Scenic West Athletic Conference with 18 doubles.

As a freshman in 2010 before leaving for an LDS mission, Fisher finished second in the SWAC batting race to current Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, then with College of Southern Nevada.

The dude can flat-out hit. He plays a little defense, too.

"He has big-time ability to keep pitches in the middle of the field," SLCC coach David Nelson said. "He hits to right center as well as he does to left center. We knew he could hit. He was a good catcher and a very good hitter.

"His freshman year, he was a solid catcher. This year, Bo really worked well behind the plate and became the best defensive catcher in our league."

Fisher battled through a sports hernia this season and still finished tied with teammate J.C. Snyder for the team lead with 35 RBIs. Fisher, a Tribune all-state first-team catcher for the Cavemen as a senior in 2009, has signed to play next year at BYU.

He said the competition at the junior-college level was better than he expected when he joined the Bruins.

"I wasn't expecting it to be as competitive as it was," said Fisher, who also played first base. "There's a lot of good players in the conference."

Fisher managed two or more hits in 14 games and helped the Bruins to a 35-17 record and third place in the SWAC. He earned first-team all-conference honors as a designated hitter.

Nelson attributes Fisher's success to his even-keeled approach, and he said the catcher controls his emotions better than anyone he has coached.

"He is as laid-back as they get," Nelson said. "Nothing ever seems to really bother him. He's extremely competitive, very smart and very easy to get along with."