By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
Harlingen South junior first baseman/pitcher Trey Vento is one of the team’s anchors this season.
Vento hit a three-run home run and scored twice in the team’s 9-3 bounceback victory over San Benito on Saturday. He is hitting .258 with a .452 slugging percentage this season.
The right-hander also has a 1.95 ERA in 14 ⅓ innings pitched.
Q: Describe the home run and the at-bat leading up to it. What was the situation?
Vento: It was a (2-2 count), and I knew he was going to throw me a curveball or fastball. I got in my two-strike approach, and I was just looking to make good, solid contact with the ball and get those runs in. It came in there, I saw the pitch, let my hands fly and it went.
Q: What is your walkup song? Do you have a favorite music genre you tend to listen to?
Vento: The Outsiders by Eric Church.
Q: Do you have a favorite pregame snack?
Vento: A mango Body Armour sports drink with beef jerky.
Q: What is your favorite baseball team and who is your favorite player?
Vento: Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants. I watched him play in the 2013 World Series, and I saw him pitch back-to-back games.That’s somewhere I want to get to, and that’s an idol I look up to.
Q: Who in your life do you consider your mentor(s), and why?
Vento: Definitely my dad, and my parents. They’re hard workers and they’ve shown me how to be a hard worker all my life.
Q: DC or Marvel? Do you have a favorite superhero or villain?
Vento: DC, and Batman. I’ve loved that character since I was little.
Q: If you could pack a bag for a weekend road trip with only three items, which ones would you choose?
Vento: My baseball glove, a ball and a bat.
Q: What is the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on a baseball field?
Vento: When the pitcher catches a ball — a line drive — barehanded hit straight back to him, because it happens so fast. It happened a few years ago when I was watching film (of another school).
Q: What’s been the key to your team’s ability to bounce back from tough losses this season?
Vento: Once we get a couple of losses … we figure out what we need to do to win the next game. We just put in all the work we can, seeing pitches and looking at what we need to do for the next game, (minimizing) errors and hitting when we need to.