Now, Fife is considered by Baseball America as the 57th-best prospect in the Major League First-Year Player Draft, which begins today and continues Friday.

BYU SS Daniel Vargas, OF Kent Walton and OF Sean McNaughton, Utah 2B Cory Shimada (Murray HS), Southern Utah OF Nick Freitas, Utah Valley RHP Marcus Moore (Roy HS), Southern Nevada C/IF Braeden Schlenhuber (Viewmont HS), LHP Egan Smith (Pleasant Grove HS), and SS Easton Gust (Riverton HS) could also be drafted sometime in the two-day draft.

For Fife, who worked out with the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, it's a matter of where not when.

"(Scouts) started calling every week (after SDSU)," Fife said.

At that point, he needed to focus even more and a sit-down meeting with Utah pitching coach Bryan Conger helped him do that.

"He told me, 'You can only control what you can control. If you accept the fact that these guys are going to be coming and accept the fact you have a really good shot at being drafted and you stay focused on helping this team win every day, that stuff will work itself out,"' Fife recalled.

"When I was throwing, it was my day to put my head down and keep my eyes down and stay focused on what was in front of me that day instead of what was going to happen.

"(He said) 'Focus on day-to-day goals, hour-to-hour goals and week-to-week goals, and if you meet those goals then things are going to happen the right way."'

He finished the season 7-5 with a 3.72 ERA. He allowed 91 hits in 92 innings, surrendered 49 runs (38 earned) while striking out a team-high 78 and walking just 29.

His seven wins were also a team high, and opponents hit a team-low .252 against him.

"This year it took off," said Fife, who was a three-sport star at Boise's Borah High School. "I thought I could do something special in terms of athletics whether it be football or baseball."

When football went south early in his senior year of high school, he focused his attention on baseball.

He attended Everett Junior College and was an all-conference performer, going 9-2 in his one and only season there.

Last year, his first year at Utah, he was 6-2 in 17 appearances (six starts) and posted a 4.43 ERA. He struck out 53 and walked 31.

"The goal of being a professional baseball player didn't really come around until at the end of my junior college year when I thought I had some success," he said.

He will find out soon where all the hard work will take him.

"I've never really been a big prospect in terms of professional baseball and it's been a progression since I left high school," he said. "Last year it really started to build, and this year it all came together at the right time."

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MLB First-Year Player Draft, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Today: noon to 7 p.m.

(first 20 rounds)

TV: ESPN2 (noon to 4 p.m.)

Friday: 9:30 a.m. until completion

TV: None

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E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com