Editor's note: This is the first of a four-part series chronicling the life of former W.F. West standout Brock Peterson after Chronicle reporter Zach Martin recently traveled to Virginia Beach for an interview.
The GPS laid out the path. From the Holiday Inn in Norfolk, Virginia to the home of a former major leaguer from Lewis County was roughly 20 minutes.
It starts by hopping on I-264 East. Sun is shining and there’s limitless possibilities of destinations while traveling at a minimum 55 miles per hour. Once in Virginia Beach, there’s side streets to reach the stopping point.
On the left while cruising down Bay Drive is a house being built from the bottom up, symbolizing the grind that it takes to finish the project. On both sides at one point on the trek is plenty of trees and shade, understanding that there is protection from someone.
The driveway at 912 Brandon Road is enough for no more than two cars. Reality begins to set in when the eyes gaze upon the wooden ramp used to get in and out of the house.
This is Brock Peterson’s house. He actually bought it five days before July 3, 2021. Yet he never spent a night in it.
Then, his life changed forever.
The former W.F. West High School multi-sport star and professional baseball player suffered a diving accident three years ago that left him paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.
“Pretty sure there was a good chance (that) my life as I knew it was over,” Brock said.
His mother, Cathy Peterson, is his full-time caregiver. She moved to Virginia after visiting him in the hospital. Norm Peterson, Brock’s father, still lives in Chehalis. Norm still finds time to go see them, making the cross-country flight when he can.
There’s been plenty of outgoing support from friends and former teammates throughout Brock’s playing career.
“From a mental standpoint, he’s as tough as it gets,” former teammate at high school and in the minors Kyle Aselton said. “He is going to keep battling and keep fighting and try to find a way.”
Brock did a little bit of everything growing up. He did practically every sport he could as a kid, from soccer to basketball to wrestling.
He remembered a time growing up playing on a makeshift baseball field at a friend's house. There were no parents allowed.
“It was kind of like ‘Sandlot,’” Brock said. “We played games every Sunday, anybody was allowed to come over. We made the rules; it was kind of nice.”
One of the sports Cathy and Norm made sure to avoid was football, at least until middle school.
“We didn’t really believe in little kids getting knocked around,” Norm said.
There was even a dirt bike and snowboarding phase. There was just one rule Brock had to follow.
When he signed up for a season, he couldn’t quit.
“That was the best thing,” Brock said. “I always had something to do. It all benefited me in the long run.”
Cathy and Norm ran a business while Brock and his sister grew up. It is common that one of the parents would also be a coach for their kids' sports.
Maybe one, but sometimes multiple.
Neither one of them had any interest in it.
“He got the perspective of other coaches,” Cathy said. “If your dad is the coach, you can always slack off. Other coaches you can’t.”
Brock had his group of friends that would be by his side in Chehalis. Aselton, Sawyer Smith and Tyler Hamilton were tight knit in everything they did.
Aselton described Brock as “very social throughout high school.”
“He would take his shirt off his back for anyone in his circle,” Aselton added.
It was wrestling versus basketball. Then, it was college football versus a long baseball career.
Brock didn’t have to wait long to make what were – at the time – two of his biggest decisions that shaped his prep career.
In middle school, Brock was fond of wrestling. As a stocky 6-foot-2 athlete, he was strong enough to overpower opponents and won several matches.
The problem? He would have been behind a couple stalwarts at his projected weight class of 170-pounds after gaining a bunch of weight in the summer between eighth grade and freshman year.
“Andy Olson was at that weight class and I didn't feel like getting my butt kicked,” Brock said. “My closer friends played basketball. I had both coaches almost like recruiting me.”
Basketball was the sport Brock truly loved playing. More so than football and baseball.
Yes, really.
“I think it is the most enjoyable sport to practice and play,” Brock said. “I used to play pickup games three nights a week when I was playing baseball. You get the best workout. You don’t need a bunch of rules or equipment.
“I think a lot of guys who played multiple sports would say basketball is fun to play.”
More of his friends played basketball for W.F. West, so that was the route he went. Which gave Brock three sports for the Bearcats.
He was a receiver and Smith delivered him passes on the gridiron. Brock’s growth over his four years opened Smith’s eyes for the future.
“He was skilled at football and could have played that past high school if he wanted to,” Smith said.
But baseball was starting to crystalize.
Brock was on the ‘C’ team his freshman season, primarily made up of freshmen and some sophomores. It was the tier below junior varsity.
Rich Bunker, one of the assistants for W.F. West and a ‘C’ team coach at the time, knew the talent Brock was, but knew it was the right spot for his development.
“Even on ‘C’ team, he wasn’t a superstar,” Bunker admitted. “We were pretty strong throughout. Just wasn’t ready. I don’t think Brock had an ounce of unhappiness playing on the ‘C’ team. He was playing with his friends.”
Brock conquered while sitting in his living room in Virginia.
“I was just happy to be playing,” he said. “I was playing three-to-four days a week instead of two. You get a little bit of freedom to explore different things that work for you.”
By sophomore year, things were turning the corner. Head coach Tom Zuber knew it immediately. Zuber had known Brock and the Peterson family since he was playing little league.
“When he was a sophomore, there was no one as good as him,” Zuber stated with zero hesitation. “There was not an upperclassman that was as good as he was. It was obvious to our entire coaching staff that he was the guy.”
Legion ball was where Brock made the biggest strides in his game, including doing some weight lifting for the first time as an underclassmen. He added pop in his bat, pulling the ball to left field.
One time, his legion coach just told him to sit fastball down the middle and have the right-hander launch it.
“I think I hit three home runs that day,” Brock said. “It makes you feel like they believe in you.”
Norm and Cathy enjoyed the front row seat.
“He’s doing some things that are pretty special,” Norm said. “He just became pretty dang strong, but he worked at it.”
Still, schools were wanting Brock in football. Not powerhouse programs, but he was getting offers from smaller Division I and Division II staffs.
In the end, with how baseball was going, it wasn’t much of a decision.
“I had to see what my options were,” Brock said. “I knew if I went to college for football, that was the end of it. They’re absolute freaks. To go pro in that, I knew I didn’t have a chance.”
“He saw the envelopes and kind of didn’t think anything of it,” Norm added. “I don’t know if he opened any of them.”
There was one time Brock noticed him as a senior. He may have been sneakily watching other games, but Bill Lohr was always keeping an eye on a talent in his own backyard.
Lohr was a former scout for the Minnesota Twins and being based in the PNW, had a keen eye for good prospects.
Brock fit the bill.
“He was kind of overlooked,” Lohr said. “He didn’t get into all star games. If we would have been noticed today, he would have been a top-10 draft pick.”
Lohr ended up playing a much larger role in Brock’s life. During a batting practice Brock did with a wood bat and Lohr watching, all Brock was doing was going the opposite way.
That’s not what Lohr, who played in the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers, wanted to see.
“I hit a couple balls over right field and he stopped me and said ‘What are you doing?’” Brock recalled Lohr saying. “I’m trying to hit the ball the other way like people say I need to. He said ‘I came here to watch and see how far you can hit that ball over the left field fence.’
“If that’s what you want to see me do, I can do that. That mindset changed my whole summer.”
Despite helping the Bearcats to a pair of state semifinal appearances, the attention Brock got from colleges was little to none.
He wanted to play for Washington or Washington State. Neither entertained him.
“They told me I wasn’t big enough to play Pac-12 baseball,” Brock said.
Lower Columbia Community College was actively recruiting Brock and there was plenty of mutual interest. Still, a team could take him in the 2002 MLB Draft.
Because of how often Lohr was in the Twins’ ear about Brock, that was the most logical choice. And Brock was thinking it would be in the middle rounds – back then, the draft was 50 rounds – and he waited for his phone to ring.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
“I called the Twins, (and said) ‘When are you going to draft his ass?’” Lohr stated.
It was the 49th round when the Twins finally called and drafted Brock. Then it became a decision to sign a professional contract or go to LC for a year and then see if he can be drafted again in 2003.
“I remember talking to him about different options,” Smith said. “He could have played college ball and end up getting drafted down the line. It was never like he didn’t want to go to college, he felt (turning pro) was the best thing for him.”
Lohr lobbied hard for Brock to get $50,000 plus school being paid for and eventually, he signed. Just like that, the kid from Chehalis was starting his pro career.
“Exciting,” Cathy said. “We had no idea what the process was.”
Yet if Brock knew then what he knows now, he would have gone the other way.
“I would have played a year in college, for sure,” he said candidly. “Knowing the success my buddies had in that league, I think I would have been able to play pretty well.
Now, he was off to Florida to train with fellow draft picks before being sent to Rookie ball.
Wait… Rookie ball?
“My eyes got wide open really quick because when I signed, I thought it was A, AA and AAA,” Brock said. “So in my head, I’m thinking three years, four years I could be in the big leagues. Met up with a bunch of others guys from Detroit, started talking to one of them and asked him where he played and he said ‘Rookie ball’
“It is like three levels below A ball. I was like ‘Oh no, what have I gotten myself into?’”
