By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Harlingen High Lady Cardinals catcher Jaymie Gonzales will be off to Beeville to join Coastal Bend College in the fall.
“There is plenty of stuff I need to get ready for, especially time management and getting ready for practices,” Gonzales said during a signing ceremony Saturday. “In college you have to be independent, so I really need to learn to put my work first and adjust to the next level.”
The Lady Cardinals’ cleanup hitter and four-year letterman is off to a great start this season, coach Kevin Ledesma said.
“She is someone you turn to for big hits,” he said. “She is a timely hitter with three home runs and has more to come. She is the type of girl you want at the heart of the lineup.”
Gonzales acknowledged and was thankful for the coaches that helped nurture her career.
“I had a lot of good coaches and a great support system that helped me get to where I am at now. It was just a matter of me working hard and being dedicated to the sport,” she said.
Gonzales’ parents, Nora and Harvey Gonzales, were there every step up of the way and watched as their daughter put in the hard work.
“I am extremely proud,” Nora Gonzales said. “We have all worked as a family to try to get her where she has wanted to go. She has put in the work, and my heart is swelled up with pride.”
Jaymie Gonzales plans on studying education at Coastal Bend, with the hopes of one day being a college coach.
“She has put in a lot of work over the years and this is one of her goals, so we are happy as parents to see her reach her goal,” Harvey Gonzales said.