Spencer Draws, an infielder for Columbus High’s baseball team, isn’t one to back away from new experiences or challenges.

Draws, a 17-year-old senior, will play baseball in the fall at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Before that, though, Draws was part of the Goodwill Series, a group of four teams that departed the United States on Dec. 16 for Australia.

Draws and his teammates spent two weeks playing baseball and learning about Australia. Draws won an MVP award and player-of-the-week award Dec. 30. He had several multiple-hit games and hit close to .400 on the trip.

He recently returned and spent a few minutes talking with Ledger-Enquirer sports writer Jeff Hendrickson.

How has this experience made you a better player and person?

It was great getting to meet so many people -- people I would have never thought I’d get to meet without this experience. The people with the program, the people in Australia and the players in the program were all great. It was really great to meet such great players from around the country. The playing was great because I worked with great coaches and great players, and that is bound to make me a better player. And going on the trip just gives me a better experience in life and gives me better perspective. This is something I always wanted to do.

How did this trip come about? When did you first start talking about going?

I first talked about it last spring and talked about it a few times over the summer with coach (Charlie) Aliano, who has been with the program for a while. He’d watched our team at Columbus, and he’d seen me play. He thought I would be a good fit for the series. We really got serious in the late fall and decided to make the trip.

What were some of the differences playing against teams from Australia?

The teams were good, and the players were talented. It doesn’t seem like they took winning games as seriously as we do sometimes. I don’t think that’s always a bad thing. But the players were good, and you could tell they’d had some good coaching.

What was it like with the host families in Brisbane and Adelaide?

It was great to experience that kind of life. It’s not like we were immersed in the culture or anything, but we did get to see life beyond just being a tourist. My two families were really nice to us and took care of us.

How was spending Christmas in Australia?

It was certainly different from anything I’d experienced before. Just the traditions, certainly the weather with it being summer down there, were something that I found interesting and glad I got to experience. This is something I’m lucky enough to take with me the rest of my life.

What type of training do you do, given it’s not baseball season here, to get ready to play baseball?

I put in a lot of work, actually. There were players from all over the country -- California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, Nevada -- so I wanted to make sure I represented myself and everyone well. I didn’t want to embarrass myself, so I hit off of live pitching for about a month before we left, and I was running and keeping myself in shape. I’m proud of how I played. I won the MVP at one of the stops. I’m happy with how I played and how prepared I was for the trip

What happened during the trip that you least expected?

“The plane trip there was fine. It was great really. I guess I had all the anticipation and everything about getting there. But that flight back was awful. It seemed like it took forever.

What’s your focus now?

I’m just getting ready for our upcoming season at Columbus and then getting ready for the Air Force Academy after that.