By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Even as a freshman, it didn’t take long to realize Jose Perales would one day be a varsity catcher.
Then an injury almost put that on hold.
Perales, a three-year starter for the Raiders, suffered an injury playing in an offseason league when a ball hit him hard in the facemask. It caused a small fracture on his skull and left his chances of playing this season about as thin as the injury in his head.
“That was pretty scary for a coach. We weren’t sure we were going to have him this season,” Rivera coach Travis Parker said. “He was cleared about a week before the season started. That says a lot about his mental strength and character.”
Parker said Perales worked as vigorously to come back as he does every day in practice.
“The hard work he puts in day in and out, he understands what it takes,” Parker said. “He’s starting to see the results come game time. He’s seeing the results, so that confidence is growing.”
That confidence has continued to grow each year for Perales, both offensively and defensively.
“I was a little scared when I started catching as a freshman,” he said. “Now I’m confident during my work. I am pretty confident at the plate; when I hit I’m relaxed. If you go up to the plate nervous you usually won’t hit.”
Perales has emerged from a freshman thrown into the fire to a leader behind the plate. The junior takes pride in calming down a pitcher in a tough situation, shifting the defense or taking charge when needed. In the lineup, Perales hits cleanup and knows his job is to get clutch hits and drive in runs.
This past summer, the catcher was invited to try out for an Under Armor development team. He made the team and spent a week in Florida working on catching drills and competing against players from all over the country.
After his stint in Florida, Perales returned to Brownsville with confidence that was at an all-time high. His success with the development team left him ready for more offseason leagues, and helped adjust his focus and drive for the current high school season. Soon after his return, the injury temporarily stopped that momentum.
But the junior catcher has come back even stronger. Perales hopes to be a leader for his young team as they continue to find the right pieces to put together to make some noise in District 32-6A.
“We need a little more defense. We have a good offensive team,” he said. “We just need to make plays on defense and we’ll be good.”
Parker said his junior catcher is the kind of player you like to have on your team.
“He’s a quiet leader, he’s not real vocal, but his work ethic speaks for itself,” Parker said. “Guys tend to follow hard work like that.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.