While hundreds of former Northwoods League players are participating in Spring Training, two former NWLers are taking a slightly different path to fulfill their baseball dreams. Ben Smith and Jared Johnson will appear as contestants on an ABC social reality show on Saturday afternoon with a chance to earn a spot to New York Mets Spring Training. Bud United presents: The Big Time airs Saturday, March 3 at 3 pm ET (2 pm CT) on ABC.

In the show, Smith and Johnson are two of the three aspiring baseball pitchers – all cast via social media channels – that work under legendary coach Tom House to test their throwing skills from the mound at CitiField, home of the New York Mets. After being put to a series of baseball challenges, the winner will ultimately earn a spot in the starting rotation of the Brooklyn Cyclones, vying for a chance to join the Mets at Spring Training.

In this video, Jared Johnson speaks about why his baseball career stopped, but how it also saved his life.

Johnson played for the Madison Mallards in the summer of 2004. He was a .254 hitter with eight doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs. He also pitched in relief in three games going 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA.

Smith was an Alexandria Beetles pitcher for two summers. He spent June of 2005 in Alexandria before leaving the team because of an injury. In 5 appearances he went 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA. He returned in 2006 and in 9 appearances had a 0-0 record and 6.28 ERA.

In the video below, Smith talks about his experience in New York for the filming of the episode.

About Ben Smith (27 years old)

In high school, Ben was a promising, but not spectacular pitcher. He was recruited and offered MLB development contracts, but turned them down, thinking that he might get a better offer after playing college ball and improving further. However, while Ben was in college, his father became terminally ill. Ben left school, and his baseball career, behind and came home to help his mother care for his father and his disabled brother, who has cerebral palsy. After going home to take care of his family and support his mother, Ben let go of his dream of playing professional ball and eventually moved on to become a personal trainer. After not throwing a “serious” pitch in over 5 years, Ben discovered he could still throw 95 mph fastballs with great accuracy. Although he’s still hesitant to leave his mother alone, her excitement over his opportunity has reignited his passion for the game.

About Jared Johnson (29 years old)

Superstar athlete Jared was a shoo-in for a career in baseball until disaster struck when he was diagnosed with metastatic Stage IV testicular cancer. With only a 4% chance of survival, Jared battled through chemo with the help of the extraordinary muscle and bone density gained from playing baseball. After high doses of chemo and major surgery, Jared miraculously was given the all-clear. But the surgery, which had cracked his body open from neck to groin, left him unable to recover his previous hitting prowess – the muscles simply weren’t able to knit themselves back together as they were before. After struggling through years of rehab, Jared discovered that he was still able to function at a high level on the other side of the field as a pitcher. Unfortunately, the low pay of minor and independent league play is not enough to support a family, so Jared still dreams of one day making it to the big leagues.