From getting drafted into the Major Leagues to playing in the dead heat of Arizona’s junior college ranks, the Vaqueros’ left-handed ace exhibited a cool confidence when he spoke about life on and off the mound.

Despite academic issues in the past, Chris Joyce is departing from City College to pursue his dreams to pitch professionally. The pro prospect led the Vaqs to a conference title and playoff berth this season.

“When he throws, his teammates know they are getting every ounce of effort and desire from one of the best pitchers in the state,” Vaqueros pitching coach Justin Aspegren said. “He pitches intelligently and pitches with purpose.”

The Vaqs baseball squad finished the regular season 22-14 and won the Western State Conference North title with its dominant pitching staff; the group’s 312 total strikeouts is the best in the state.

As the bullpen’s top arm, Joyce was honored as the WSC North pitcher of the year even though he missed the first three games for being academically ineligible. His 6-0 record and 1.20 earned run average led the team.

“If you want to come to City College to be an athlete and a student, you just have to be ready to do the hard work,” Joyce said. “If you do the work, everything will be in place for you.”

Joyce became eligible to play for the Vaqs an hour before the squad’s second matchup with L.A. Mission this season. Although the team lost, the lefty came in to relieve and pitched three dominant shutout innings to end the game.

“He is the ultimate fierce competitor,” Aspegren said. “When we saw that it was like, ‘okay, Joyce is back.'”

Joyce, 21, was born in San Diego and started playing baseball at age three. He accredits his sound mechanics to such early exposure to the sport. The lefty moved to Santa Barbara and played ball at Dos Pueblos High School before getting selected in the tenth-round of the 2008 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“To have the opportunity to be a professional baseball player at age 18 was really nice for me,” Joyce said. “I mean, you’re having your name called in a major league draft; there’s only a certain amount of people who are going to have that said about them.”

However, Joyce could not negotiate a contract that both sides agreed on so he opted to attend UCSB to attain a four-year education. When the Academic Center at UCSB didn’t check his transcripts properly, Joyce was forced to redshirt two weeks before the season started. He was only able to participate on the practice squad and didn’t play in a game all year.

“They let me into the school when I actually didn’t qualify,” Joyce said. “The only reason I went was to play baseball. I felt like I was there for no reason, I didn’t attend as many classes as I should have.”

Looking back, Joyce calls the extra year of experience and eligibility “big.”

The next year Joyce bounced from UCSB to Central Arizona junior college to straighten out academically before returning to Santa Barbara.

“I did it to get away from Santa Barbara and see what I really could do,” Joyce said. “Being able to succeed on my own really boosted my confidence and made me a more mature person.”

After one year at City College, Joyce earned a full scholarship to Cumberland University in Tennessee for fall 2012. Until his name is called on draft day, that’s the plan.

“To be able to get my grades together, have a scholarship for next year and maybe sign a professional contract is good for me, for right now,” Joyce said. “I feel better about it than about where I was a few years ago.”

“It is not a matter of if he gets drafted this year, it’s when,” Aspegren said.

Joyce says that while he has had to overcome adversity, some of which his own doing, the experience has helped him grow as a person.

“I don’t regret my choice to stay in school at all. I have met teams and sets of people that I will know for the rest of my life, that’s the great thing about college,” Joyce said. “I think I’m ready to finally get out and start my career.”

The 2011 MLB draft will commence on June 5.

“Chris has a rare combination of the right stuff and the right mentality,” Aspegren said. “We could be watching him for a long time.”