By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial third baseman Lorena Rodriguez signed to play softball for Cisco College on Wednesday, building on quite a family legacy formed on the diamond.
Rodriguez is following in the footsteps of her older sister and brother, Adriana and Beto, who also received scholarships to play softball and baseball for the Wranglers in the National Junior College Athletic Association. Her oldest brother, Pira, played in the minor leagues.
The senior said she used to hate being compared to her older siblings, but she sees it now as a blessing because their influence made her the player she is today.
“It means a lot knowing that the college I’m going to, two of my siblings also went there. It’s like I’m continuing the family legacy, so it definitely means a lot to me,” Rodriguez said. “I watched my brother play for two years and my sister play for two years as well. It makes it feel comfortable. It felt like home, since I’d been there since I was a kid.”
Rodriguez delivered an emotional speech thanking the village of people who have helped her along the way, and a big factor in her journey has been Lady Chargers coach Rayner Cardenas.
Cardenas told a story about Rodriguez going to visit him in the hospital after a medical issue. She hadn’t yet played an inning for him after transferring from Brownsville Lopez, and Cardenas said seeing her put in the effort to wish him well — she walked half a mile from one hospital to another with a vase full of flowers in the middle of summer — was a testament to her character that touched him deeply.
“She is a great young woman. Her attitude, her outlook on life, what’s important to her isn’t just softball, it’s academics and family and friends,” Cardenas said. “She’s just so well-rounded that the coaching part is easy because she’s just a great person, and it’s enjoyable to be around people like her. We’ve had great players come through this program, and she ranks right up there when it comes to work ethic. That’s what separates the good players from the great players.”
Rodriguez also thanked her teammates and assistant coaches Sammy Hernandez and Heriberto “Turtle” Rodriguez, who also coached her sister at Lopez. She said her parents, siblings and her boyfriend, Pace standout and UTSA baseball signee Jose Banda, were instrumental in guiding her through the recruitment process.
The senior said she was worried about the COVID-19 pandemic affecting her recruitment, but she was glad to have an opportunity to play travel ball this summer with the South Texas Crush. She got on Cisco’s radar after attending one of their camps in October, and it was a quick process to getting and accepting the offer.
“Everybody played a really big role, especially because of the whole virus thing,” Rodriguez said. “It was pretty hard in the beginning. There was a big question about whether I was going to go (play college softball) or not, because you can’t get noticed if you can’t play. It was scary. Since I was a little kid and I saw my siblings play (in college), I was, like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to do what they do.’ It’s amazing getting to sign with Cisco. It’s not just the fact that I got a scholarship, it’s more the fact that it’s somewhere my siblings went, and it felt like home.”
As Rodriguez looks ahead to her senior season, she said signing early takes a weight off her shoulders and will leave her more time to focus on achieving her goals, like earning an offensive player of the year award. She’s looking forward to building off the solid season the Lady Chargers were putting together before the pandemic caused it to be canceled.
Rodriguez, who said hitting is her favorite part of the game, blasted five home runs in 16 games in 2020 — and they all came in the same week. She was hitting .419 and notched 25 RBIs before the season ended in March.
Rodriguez will be studying education and wants to be a teacher when her playing career is over. She wants to be a playmaker for the Wranglers and coach Joel Prickett, and Cardenas believes she has what it takes to excel.
“Physically, she’s very, very strong. But I think the most important part of her game is her mental toughness,” Cardenas said. “She learns from her mistakes. She doesn’t dwell. She’s always asking what she can do to improve. If she made a mistake on the field or she missed a pitch as a hitter, she’s always asking for coaching. I think the fact that she never gets down on herself is going to really make her a great player in college.”