Baseball gets a bad rap from most non-fans. Many will call it slow or boring and although the professional level of baseball has made strides to change this, that is the professionals, where the people running the show focus more on entertainment rather than just playing ball.
High school, on the other hand, is the perfect example of true baseball and Sunnyslope has a plethora of fantastic base-ballers including Gateway Community College commit Senior Ezekial Mendoza.
On January 4th, Mendoza officially committed to Gateway and is currently participating in his final year of high school ball.
“He definitely is the hardest worker,” said Senior Connor Keogh, “When it comes to game time he really flips that switch.”
Mendoza has really flipped that switch this season and has been able to push his season stats to a .316 batting average with 6 RBIs so far.
Senior Copper Shillington said, “He definitely takes the game more seriously and he is not going to go out and just blow off a game.”
This commitment has reflected on Mendoza’s career thus far, as he has been appearing in varsity games since sophomore year and now moves on to play at Gateway.
“I would say coaching is the biggest thing because the coach is really good,” said Mendoza, “He was talking about how there’s only been 26 people to ever not go to a 4 year school.”
Mendoza also has had a bit of a chip on his shoulder during his journey to play past high school.
While he has always wanted to play college baseball and beyond, Mendoza said proving any doubters wrong was a big motivation for him.
At Sunnyslope, Mendoza has made his presence known and is always there to help out his teammates as well.
Keogh said, “If you need a real conversation, you’re not going to make a joke or he’s not going to laugh at you about something.”
Every team needs someone who will be serious when it is needed, but also someone who can slow down the game, and for the Vikings, Mendoza does both.
Shillington said that Mendoza is the type of a guy that can tell everyone to “just take breath” and that “it’s just a game” and Shillington thinks that a great thing to bring to the table.
However, while baseball has been a huge part of his life the past 4 years, it is not the only thing that Mendoza will look back on with joy.
“I would honestly say some classes are just always fun with some certain people but the most consistent would be baseball,” said Mendoza.
In May, Mendoza’s time here at Sunnyslope will be over, but he will have at least 2 more years to show the world what kind of baseball player he is.