When Peotone senior Ruben Velasco III had to pick one of his three sports to continue at the next level, the choice was fairly obvious.
“I just saw the most potential for myself to go farther in baseball,” the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder said after an 11-1 win over TF South on March 25. “I mean, I’m tall for here, but I’m not basketball tall. And football, I never really had the love for it to go to that next level.
“But baseball, I love working. I love putting in extra work, grinding, doing all that extra stuff.”
The effort has paid off with the opportunity to play at NCAA Division II Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Even landing that offer took some work for the infielder/pitcher.
“I got into an advisory thing for college, so that helped me out a lot,” Velasco said. “Last year I had a good season, that helped the recruiting process.”
Indeed — he hit .474 with six home runs and 26 runs batted in.
After that, Velasco said, “we sent out mass emails to everyone on the West Coast. (Colorado-Colorado Springs) responded, they said they liked my stuff.”
The feeling was mutual when Velasco made a campus visit.
“It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to,” he said. “And the coaches, they know their stuff.”
Mountain Lions head coach Dave Hajek played 10 seasons of professional ball, including two years in the majors with the Houston Astros, and he also coached in the minor leagues for 12 years.
“So he has a bunch of connections there,” Velasco said. “It just seemed like the right fit for me.”
Velasco isn’t looking too far ahead, though. The Blue Devils were inexperienced last season, going 6-18 with just two seniors. They’re still young, with only five seniors, but are looking to take a step forward.
“I think this year is the year,” Velasco said. “I think we can be good. The pieces will start coming together, everyone will start working hard. I think we could really play for each other this year. We have sort of a brotherhood.”
Velasco went 2-for-2 with two doubles, a walk, two runs and two RBIs against TF South. Josh Barta added a double and two RBIs.
It all starts with Velasco, according to Peotone coach Teddy Baffes.
“Ruben is a purebred, just leader on this team,” Baffes said. “He brings a camaraderie to this lineup every single day in practice and games. And he’s a key piece to the success we have every single day in this.”
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