By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
There are several measures designed to reduce the physical toll that sports can take on a high school athlete’s body.
In baseball, one of the most important is UIL-regulated pitch counts mandating at least four days rest (for a start between 86-110 pitches) for a pitcher before he makes his next in-game appearance on the mound.
And then there are the preventative steps that athletes can take to reduce the chance of an upper body injury that so often can affect pitchers.
Last October, Los Fresnos pitcher and outfielder Victor Loa, at teammate Sebastian Ledesma’s urging, decided to test that proposition for himself. So Ledesma took Loa to J&X Athletic Performance in Brownsville.
J&X is run Joey Garcia and Xochitl Zaldivar, a fitness-minded couple that has blended Garcia’s military background with Zaldivar’s bodybuilding experience.
It was through J&X that Loa met another training partner — Brownsville Hanna’s Anthony Ambriz, a friendly rival on the gridiron and the diamond.
“He did football, too, so he would come in and we would have a little conversation here and there,” Loa said. “I would ask him how he was doing, and he would check in and ask me as well.
“We weren’t as close (then) as we are now,” Loa said of his experience with Garcia and Zaldivar. “They started understanding me, and I started understanding them. We built a bond together, and they’ve been there for me and I’ve been there for them, so I appreciate them a lot. They’ve pushed me to my limits.”
“Fridays were flexibility days,” Loa said. “We did so many stretches that helped maintain the upper body and lower body, so they stretched us out and my legs feel a lot stronger, and my core and everything. So now I feel a lot stronger, better than last year, too.”
A report from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (part of the National Institutes of Health), “Injury Prevention in Baseball: from Youth to the Pros,” emphasizes that flexibility is strongly associated with improved performance, including velocity in pitchers.
“Players should be vigilant in stretching to maintain flexibility of both upper and lower extremities before and during the season. There seems to be a correlation between tightness in the quadriceps, hamstring, and shoulder internal rotators and shoulder and elbow pain. Core strength and stability is likely also important for injury prevention and high performance”
While he has since lightened his workout schedule to avoid overload while in season, Loa’s results on the field this season seem to indicate that his offseason preparation has paid off. The sophomore has a 0.48 era and 53 strikeouts to go along with a .315 batting average, seven extra base hits and 16 RBIs.
Loa and Ledesma also have applied their dedication to improving their fitness and conditioning to hitting technique. The two are hitting partners and stay after practice to get extra swings in off of a tee.
The duo often competes to do the most reps of one of its favorite exercises.
“(They’re called) Spider-Man pushups,” Loa said. “The last time, Sebastian and I were racing. Those are real fun. He beat me the first time, but then I had him the second time.”