Josh Prizina grew up in Sparks, Nevada where he went to Spanish Springs High School and had an exceptional career in both basketball and baseball. The 6-foot-5 athlete was named 1st Team All-Region three times for basketball and twice for baseball.
His senior year, he was tabbed as the Male Athlete of the Year by both the Reno Gazette Journal and the Sparks Tribune in addition to taking home 1st Team All-State honors for baseball. He finished his career on the diamond for Spanish Springs with a .428 batting average, 16 homeruns, and 95 RBI.
Prizina followed in the footsteps of his mother, Chris, and his uncle, Jim Puzey, who both attended the University of Nevada, Reno and played softball and baseball respectively. He said getting the chance to play for the Wolf Pack was an opportunity he could not pass up.
“Growing up in the community, I knew the environment and I knew this was a town that couldn’t be beat,” Prizina said. “So to get a scholarship was a dream come true. I took it the second he offered, and it was just a dream come true.”
Prizina is pursuing a degree in kinesiology at UNR. He plans to work in physical therapy and follow in the footsteps of his mother, Chris, who loves her work as a physical therapist because of the opportunity it affords her to help other people. He said he looks forward to a career where he can do the same.
He is the son of Chris and Mark Prizina and has one brother, Jake. Chris played softball at University Nevada, Reno and Mark played golf at Lassen Community College and is now a Chief Master Sargent of the 152nd Command Wing of the Air Force. Jake plays baseball at Seattle University and is studying biology.
Prizina became familiar with the Sweets because his good friend from high school, Ryan Anderson, played for the team in the summer of 2016. It was because of Anderson’s high praise for the team that Prizina was persuaded to become a part of the Sweets.
“[Anderson] said it was the time of his life, and he said if there’s anywhere you can go, try to get to the Sweets because they’re a really good program, the community rocks, and he loved his host family as well,” Prizina said. “I thought that was something I could potentially see myself doing, so once my coach brought it up that I was going to Walla Walla, I was super excited.”

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