Inspired by his dad since the age of five, Gerardo Rodriguez has spent countless hours of his days training for baseball. Due to all of his hard work and dedication, Rodriguez was recently accepted into the University of Virginia to continue playing as a catcher, as well as focusing on his academics, in hopes that someday baseball will eventually become his career.

“I started playing baseball when I was five years old because I was watching my dad play and I just like the sport,” Rodriguez said.

After a long day of school, Gerardo usually heads out to field and practices for at least 3 hours almost every day with his teammates. When he’s not out on the field, he spends most of his days working on homework and working out in the gym. On the rare occasion that he actually has free time, Rodriguez loves going to the beach with his friends. Although it can sometimes be a struggle for him to juggle his academics with baseball, his main motivation to strive for his dreams is his father. His focus on school and his will to keep working harder have given him the opportunity to keep playing baseball at the University of Virginia.

“My goal for this year is to finish what we started and win states,” Rodriguez said.

Even if baseball required long and exhausting hours of training, it was and still is one the best parts of his week. One of his most prized memories was his freshman year when Rodriguez and his team made it to the district semifinals. Although they didn’t make it very far that year, it was one of the most thrilling games he had with his teammates which also really made him put into perspective of what he and his team are capable of when hard work is put into something you love. Make sure to congratulate Gerardo Rodriguez on taking his game to the next level.