What a difference a season can make.

Entering his senior year with the University of Utah baseball team, Ryan Khoury, a native of West Jordan, was just hoping to do well enough to get drafted anywhere by anyone.

Just four months later, he was a first-team All-American selection and the MWC Player of the Year. He quickly became a hot commodity. When the Major League Baseball draft arrived, Khoury was nabbed by the Boston Red Sox in the 12th round.

Since then, he's spent his time with the Lowell Spinners of Massachusetts, a rookie team for the Red Sox.

Add that up, and you quickly figure out that it's been quite a whirlwind for Khoury.

"It's kind of the realization of a dream," he said.

Through Monday, Khoury had played 19 games for Lowell. During that time, he's batted .290 with 10 RBIs.

How's the transition been?

"It's going really well, especially lately," he said. "It's been a big adjustment to wood (bats)."

Now that he's a minor league prospect on a legendary baseball team, Khoury's realized he isn't just playing for fun anymore.

"The biggest difference (from college baseball) is that it's a job," he said. "It's an everyday thing."

In the short-term, he said his goal is to simply to make himself an important part of the Spinners — and to improve himself as much as possible.

"It's an ongoing battle to get your swing where you want," said Khoury, who prepped at Copper Hills High.

Obviously, his long-term goal is to move up the steep ladder that points toward Major League Baseball.

As his senior season with the Utes demonstrated, Khoury certainly has the ability to make that leap. After what he labeled as an "average" junior year, Khoury was spectacular in 2006.

He became the Utes' all-time hits leader, led the MWC in batting average (.438), on-base percentage (.549), hits (98), hit-by-pitch (19) and was among the league leaders in several other categories.

Khoury attributed much of his improvement to playing in a summer league in Edenton, North Carolina.

"You have to coach yourself (in the summer league)," said Khoury.

Because of that, he entered his final year with the Utes feeling more confident about his ability.

"My senior year, I felt like I was a lot more mentally strong," he said.

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E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com