Former Sharyland Pioneer multi-sport stud Jacob Rosales has found a new home.
Rosales, who competed in four years of varsity baseball, football and track at Pioneer from 2015-2019, announced on Twitter that he will leave Northeast Texas Community College for the University of Incarnate Word, a Division I program in San Antonio.
“It means the world to me just knowing how hard I’ve been working at this sport my whole life. Spending countless hours perfecting every small detail with my dad, and coaches who have helped me along the way, it makes me happy knowing that I’ve made a lot of people proud doing what I love,” Rosales said.
As a senior at Pioneer in 2019, Rosales helped lead the Diamondbacks to the UIL 5A State Tournament, becoming the first school from the Rio Grande Valley to qualify for the state tourney in 12 years.
He was named The Monitor’s 2018-19 All-Area Baseball Player of the Year after recording a .410 batting average, 37 RBIs, four home runs, and going for 44 for 44 in stolen bases. Rosales also went 9-4 as a pitcher, and had a 1.87 ERA, seven complete games, five shutouts, one no-hitter and 105 strikeouts.
In his one year playing junior college ball at Northeast Texas, cut short due to the novel coronavirus, Rosales was batting .304 with a .458 on-base percentage and .630 slugging percentage in 18 games. He compiled 15 runs, 14 hits, 12 RBIs, nine walks, seven stolen bases and three home runs.
Rosales said his lone year at Northeast Texas challenged him.
“It was awesome. I got to learn a lot from the people around and the coaches. I also learned a lot about myself as a player and person being in a new environment that I wasn’t familiar with, and quickly learning that everyone around you has the lion mentality to be great,” Rosales said. “The ‘Juco’ (junior college) lifestyle isn’t the easiest thing in the world. It will ruin some people if they let it, so mental toughness was probably the biggest test for me, but I was able to overcome a lot of obstacles and I’m grateful for that.”
Rosales will turn his focus to the 2020-21 season in San Antonio with the Incarnate Word Cardinals, who compete in the Southland Conference against the likes of Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“I just wanna come in and make an immediate impact for the program. I’m bringing my hard play and mental toughness to the table, along with my athletic ability, and just out-working everyone every single day,” he said. “I’m bringing a positive attitude and a lot of energy out to the field around the guys along with some humor. I always have to throw that in there because baseball ain’t fun if you ain’t smiling.”