With his mom and brother seated beside him, Anthony Rodriguez officially committed to playing baseball in college.
The Christopher senior inked his name to a Letter of Intent to attend Cal State San Marcos starting next Fall in a ceremony in the school’s library filled with his teammates, family and friends.
The soft spoken young man was humbled to be signing up for a chance to play his favorite sport beyond high school.
“I really like baseball. It’s my passion. It’s what I want to do in life, so it means a lot,” Rodriguez said.
The ceremony featured some kind words of congratulations from his family as well as his friends, who all recounted what a pleasure it was to just be around Rodriguez.
“It’s going to be exciting to see him play at the next level,” said Anthony’s mom Laura Rodriguez. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Anthony has been playing ball since he was four.
“I loved it. I always loved it,” Anthony said.
He said at first, basketball was his favorite sport, but eventually grew to love baseball even more.
Anthony led the team in hits last season with 21, ripped eight doubles and drove in 12 runs to help lead the Cougars to a second place finish in the Gabilan Division and a Central Coast Section berth.
He the ride with Christopher has been an up and down one, but he noted the ups for sure outweighed the downs
After playing out his senior year this next Spring, Anthony will join a San Marcos team that is making the jump to NCAA Division II from the NAIA. The Cougars went 36-17 overall and 7-0 in conference play.
Anthony said he was excited to become a part of the San Marcos program after visiting the area and the campus. He made his decision a couple of months ago after conversing with coach Dennis Pugh.
“A couple months ago, me and the coach were contacting back and forth and I finally made a decision,” Anthony said.
He said he was grateful for the opportunity and thanked his coach Ryan Dequin for helping him realize his potential.
“He was a great mentor just encouraging me to compete,” Anthony said.
