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"Nothing really gets you prepared for pitching," begins recent San Francisco graduate and USF baseball player, Sam Granoff. "There's a ton of intricate work that goes in behind the scenes and 99% of what you do is to get to the moment when you set foot on the mound and you kind of have the opportunity to do your thing. Once you kind of find that groove, everything else clicks.

"I think probably why I like performing with music so much is when you get in the groove of the music and get that love for it, that environment, that's the exact same feeling of just kind of knowing what you love to do and everything else around you just kind of clicks like cogs in a machine."

For Granoff, music is in his genes, and he uses that natural gift and talent to its fullest, as a drummer and a strummer. A voracious student of any craft ahead of him, he uses music as an outlet and an opportunity for learning and growth.

He tackles every subject with the same tenacity, evidenced by his academic prowess, where Granoff graduated with an impressive 3.92 GPA. Granoff was the recipient of the USF History Department's Frank Beach Award, is a USF Davies Scholar, and is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu and the History Honor Society.

On the field, the left-hander from Naples, Fla., was honored as a 2015 Division I All-American by the Jewish Sports Review and named to the 2015 WCC All-Freshman Team, while also winning the team's Con Dempsey Award. Over 23 career appearances on the Hilltop, he boasted a 3.41 ERA and was the only Don in the 2017 pitching ranks to have a shutout to his credit.

But for Granoff, the musicianship displayed as he sits behind the drum kit might top his performance on the diamond.  

"You get in the rhythm of pitching and as a drummer you're always supposed to be in the rhythm, right in the pocket. I might be better at drums than I am at baseball," he says with a smile. "There's always been so many different levels of support that it's always been really easy for me to feel confident enough that I can tackle whatever subject I'm in, that I can always learn. I've always kind of seen the sky as the limit … I have always been excited to learn and grow as a person."

Along with the vignette on Granoff, fellow hurler Joey Carney's poignant family story is told, Charlotte Taylor's dreams of becoming a two-time All-American are explored in advance of winning a national championship, and some of the best moments of the year for all 15 sports are on display in a season in review.  The episode will reair on Comcast SportsNet California twice this week: Wednesday at 5 p.m., and Saturday at 5 p.m. Check local listings for additional airdates and times.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, CSNCA can typically be found on channel 698 for DirecTV customers, 438 on the Dish Network, 412-01 on Dish Hopper packages, 767 on U-Verse and 41 on most Comcast packages. CSN Bay Area can be generally be accessed at channel 40 on Comcast, 41 on the Dish Network, 696 for DirecTV subscribers, and at 770 on U-Verse.