An escape: quiet, calm, and stress-free; all things that senior Aydan Velazquez, on the varsity baseball team, describes the game as.
Through times of distress, baseball has brought nothing but peace to Velazquez, a four-year member of the Jaguars baseball program. He has been nominated as Jaguar of the week February 16 to the 20.
Starting his athletic journey at the age of five, Velazquez played flag football. The sport did not seem like much of a home to him due to the fact that he felt it was too aggressive and chaotic.
At six years old, Velazquez decided to switch to baseball. The first time his dad taught him how to swing a bat, he fell in love with the game.
“Everything felt different. Baseball felt calm, quiet, and stress-free,” Velazquez notes.
As he liked that the game focused on every play and how every play matters, and that it is not about being physical, it is about the brain and mindset of remaining locked in.
Baseball started to become more to him over the years as the game grew him as a person; he grew with the game, and it became everything to him.
“When I am feeling stressed, it takes it all away; it is like an escape. Everything I am dealing with goes out of the window during practices and games, even when just training. When I am on the field, nothing else matters,” the second baseman adds.
With hopes of winning this season, he calls his team the underdogs due to the fact that they are overlooked since most of the starters from last season graduated, and it is all underclassmen stepping up.
He notes, “Holding ourselves accountable and having a tough attitude will help us come out on top. We have a real chance to surprise people as the underdogs.”
