Published: Nov. 6, 2015
Kewaskum’s Baker in tune on gridiron, stage
Senior uses 3 things to simplify life
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
KEWASKUM — The life of a teenager can get complicated and
overwhelming.
For Kewaskum senior Josh Baker, three things help keep it
simple: football and singing, and some strums on the strings of a guitar.
On the gridiron, Baker is a 5-foot-11, 170-pound cornerback.
On the stage with the Kewaskum High School choir, he is a bass.
Baker got into singing when he was in elementary school
choir, about second or third grade. At about the same time, he picked up
playing the guitar.
These days, he doesn’t have as much time to play guitar, but
will pick it up from time-to-time and just fool around.
“I got busy with school,” Baker said as to why he doesn’t
play guitar as often as he used to.
He still has singing and football.
“It does have an impact on me,” Baker said. “I always listen
to music. It’s like another emotion.”
Baker looks at football and the choir the same way.
“The choir, it acts like a team as well, just like in
football,” he said. “All parts have to be on the right page, singing well
together. Otherwise it doesn’t work.”
Baker added his mom told him “it’s like a second education”
if one can read music.
“It’s something else to add to your repertoire,” Baker said.
The choir performs four times a year — fall, winter, spring
and summer.
When at choir practice, it offers him a chance to push any
stresses to the back of his mind, if not out of his mind altogether.
“You get to go out there and sing and you don’t think about
anything else,” Baker said. “You don’t have anything else to worry about. You
just go out there and sing.”
The nerves can also be similar between a choir performance
and a football game.
“Seeing all those people there can be nerve-racking,” Baker
said about the moments before a choir concert.
It’s the same in football.
“There’s so many eyes on you,” Baker said.
On the football field, he captured the eyes of opposing
players, coaches and fans.
Last season, Baker led the Indians in interceptions with
seven, which put him among the state’s leaders. DePere’s Jacob DeMille led the
state with 11 interceptions. Then there were six players tied with eight and 10
players — including Baker — tied with seven interceptions.
Baker was selected first-team All-Eastern Wisconsin
Conference and first-team Daily News All-Area.
“Last year, he really asserted himself as a top corner for
us,” Kewaskum football coach Jason Piittmann said. “He has continued that this
year.”
This season, Baker has three interceptions, but it’s mainly
because offenses aren’t testing him as much.
Baker is a shut-down corner for the Indians defense. He has
34 tackles, including two tackles-for-loss and nine passes defended.
“He’s a good open-field tackler,” Piittmann said.
He also contributes in the passing game. He has 17 receptions
for 134 yards and one touchdown.
Baker is often given the responsibility to cover the other
team’s top receiver. It’s a pressure-packed assignment, especially if things
don’t go well. And when things don’t go well, they may not necessarily be his
fault.
He may play underneath a receiver on a route, expecting
over-the-top safety help. Sometimes that’s not what happens, but the cornerback
will be the one who will be ridiculed. That’s why it takes a different kind of
psyche to play the position. It’s a position Baker plays well.
“He’s gotten better and better with his mobility,” Piittmann
said.
Because of Baker’s ability, Piittmann and the Kewaskum
defense will often leave its corners in man coverage with receivers or on an
island by themselves.
That’s a lot of pressure.
“It’s a tip of the hat for him,” Piittmann said. “You’ve got
to have someone you can count on to make the tackle in the open field.”
Eh, pressure. Baker stands in front of an audience and
sings.
So what’s easier? Singing or football?
“Choir,” Baker said with a smile.
Baker is interested in singing in a college choir.
But he’s also made football look easy.
“He gets the job done,” Piittmann said.
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