It is a privelege to be able to represent your last name at a 4-year school playing a sport, but it is also a lot of hard work and sacrifice. My journey was the furthest thing from being easy. This message isn't meant to intimidate those that want to follow their dreams, but I want to share my story in hopes of preparing the younger generation for what life may throw at them during their journey.
I started playing baseball around 5-6 years old. I was always one of the smallest players on the team and that never changed for as long as I played. Most of my preadolescent years of baseball was at Northside Pony League in Oxnard, CA, which is now currently known as Oxnard Youth Baseball. My parents accidently missed the deadline to sign me up for my second year there and it was that year that they converted from a little league to a pony league. Because of my absense that year, I had to catch up to the other kids who were already used to facing real pitching. My parents swore to never have me skip another year again. During my time at Northside, I had very few coaches that actually took a liking to me due to my size and skill level compared to the rest of the kids. A lot of coaches screamed, yelled, cussed, etc.,. Despite the terrible coaching, my teammates became my friends and I made a lot of great childhood memories with them throughout my years at Northside. Along with Northside, I played travel ball with different teams and made even more friends and memories. We all continued to grow up together and play with/against each other, and some I got the chance to play with all the way up to college.
As I continued playing, I ended up becoming a solid baseball player going into high school despite the minor setbacks that I had to deal with when I was younger such as with my size, daddy baseball, etc.,. I knew how hard I had to work in order to be able to get some sort of baseball scholarship out of high school. It was my dream to play collegiate baseball at the 4-year level, but more importantly, it was my way of being able to pay for my college education without the help of my parents. My parents and I tried to do research on how to get recruited, but I didn't do the best job in being proactive about it due to the amount of stress I had put myself through in high school. At the time, I was enrolled in very advanced classes because I thought it would benefit me for college. It turned out that taking all those advanced classes was a waste for me. I ended up attending two high school showcase events. In the first showcase, I didn't perform as well as I wanted to, but I redeemed myself the second showcase I went to during the fall semester my senior year. Unfortunately, because the showcase took place prior to season, it was a period where college coaches were not allowed to contact high school players. The most that happened after that was getting invited to more college camps that costed money that my parents and I could not afford. I was more worried about how I performed in games for my school rather than the showcases that I attended. Even though my height and size played a factor in how I was perceived by the coaches, they still recognized my skill and I ended up getting a lot of playing time. I ultimately decided to attend Oxnard College and walk on the baseball team after graduating from Rio Mesa High School back in 2019. Even after all the hard work that I had put in both on and off the field and the setbacks that I had to deal with up to that point in my career, it wasn't until after graduating high school that I started to experience and endure true adversity.
My first two years of college baseball were terrible. I got very little to no playing time due to my size and height once again. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to perform whenever I got the chance to, and I was never able to bring out the confidence within myself. That was something I always struggled with, especially when I had a coach that didn't care about me or had faith in me, and that was exactly what happened at Oxnard College. My first season at Oxnard College had stopped abruptly due to COVID around March 2020. I decided to make a change due to the fact that I had lost a lot of weight from loads of conditioning in practice and games that we did play prior to COVID. I knew that there wouldn't be a 4-year college that would want a 5'7 140lbs outfielder, so I ended up bulking up 25lbs in 6 months, which was right when the fall season of my sophomore year of college was about to start. My grandpa ended up passing away during the winter which was really hard on me, but I knew he was in a better place and not suffering anymore. Despite making my peace with my grandpa's passing and the amount work I had put in prior to season, I still wasn't getting any recognition or playing time. I ended up transferring to Moorpark College in hopes of a different outcome for my career. It was with unfortunate timing that my mom had been diagnosed with a super-rare and aggressive form of Cancer called "Angio-Sarcoma" during the summer of 2021. It was definitely a very hard time for me and my family. School was difficult enough at Moorpark College. To top it all off, I ended up getting cut from tryouts at Moorpark College due to politics. The day I got cut, the guys that were already on the team vouched for me to stay. Even though that didn't persuade the coach to keep me, I knew it was a sign to keep playing. The problem was I didn't know where to go, but I was still putting in the work outside of school as if I was still on a team. A huge shoutout to Who's on First Batting Cages in Oxnard for giving me a home and a place that I could put in my work in peace and a big thank you to the man that worked those hitting machines at the cages and kept me company at that time. I truly appreciated it, Ernie. Rest in peace. Luckily, one of my buddies gave me the idea to go with him to the school that he was at in Kansas City. He gave me the contact info of one of the coaches and after conversing with him for a couple of weeks, I was offered an athletic scholarship to attend Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri. It felt reassuring to know that my teammate believed that I could play at a 4-year school unlike the coaches that I had in junior college. Ultimately, I'm glad a friend helped me get recruited rather than my junior college coaches, so shoutout to you Kurt.
Even with what was going on at home, I reluctantly left to play baseball at a 4-year university just like I wanted to and did so without asking for a single dime from my parents. My first year playing in Kansas City was rough. However, I managed to acquire highlights that I could look back at and be proud of. Despite my overall season performance, I proved a lot of people wrong back home and accomplished feats in Kansas City that nobody can take away from me. During the beginning of the season, I got a call from my father telling me that my mom's treatment was working and that the cancer was basically gone. I remember feeling weight being lifted off of my shoulders after that conversation. I didn't feel worried anymore and I started to perform the best baseball I've ever played. My dad called me again during the middle-end of my season that my mom's cancer had came back. Unfortunately, my performance started to decline and I ended the season terribly. I was determined to finish strong the following season which was what my mom wished for me a couple of days before her passing in the summer of 2022. I ended up leaving back to Kansas City the day after her funeral. I finished that year the best that I could, but I was still hungry and wanted to play one more year. I transferred to Whittier College in Los Angeles during the Fall Semester of 2023 in hopes of playing one last college season, but that didn't end up working out due to how extremely difficult school was. It was a liberal arts school and I was studying Computer Science, so they enhanced my major and required me to take more unnecessary classes. The coach took a liking to me, but only offered me a small role on the team that wasn't worth my last year playing for. I knew I'd be miserable if I did that so I gave him my thanks and decided to reattend Avila University online in the 2024 Spring Semester to finish my degree. I finished with a B.S. in Computer Science and I am now waiting to try out for an Independent Professional Baseball League sometime during the Summer of 2025.
I hope that my story brings hope to all young baseball players that dream of playing further than high school. I wanted to share as much as I could to help whoever is reading this understand the trials and tribulations and sacrifice it may require you to be able to fulfil your dreams. Now that I am a private baseball instructor, it is my wish to share the knowledge that I have gained through experience for those that are willing to learn from me. My progression as a ball player was on my own through my own research and experience. I was not fortunate enough to have an older role model to help guide me and my journey or to help me with my swing, throwing mechanics, fielding, etc.,. That is why I want to help these kids because I did not get to have that type of relationship with someone who has been there and done it. I truly insist on reaching out to me. If you click on the top right, there is a contact page where you can put in your information and message so that I can get back to you either via email or text/phone call. I am an open book and am more than willing to talk or give advice about anything you or your young ball player needs. No matter what happens in life, I truly believe God has a plan for each and every one of us, so please have faith in God's plan, in yourself, and to always keep working hard.