With the off-season baseball practices starting, coach Benavidez and many of the players have set many goals for this season. “What are my goals? Develop these guys to be, not only better players, but to be better men such as husbands, fathers, students, things like that,” coach Benavidez said.
Some players’ biggest goals are for the team. “As far as the team, we want to win League and win CIF. We have come close in two of my three previous years on the team and I feel this team has the potential to finally win it all,” Angel Iglesias,a senior, said.
In the same way there are goals for the team, some players have personal goals. “Some goals I would like to achieve this season would be just to be better than last season on and off the field,” David Aguirre, a junior, said.
Baseball has had a long lasting impact on many of the players. Most players have played since a young age, and have found their pride and joy in playing. “I’ve been playing since I was five, so it’s been most of my life I’ve been playing. At first, I didn’t really like it but now, as you get better, it’s more fun, so it has had a positive influence on me, ” Patrick Benavidez, a sophmore, said.
Aguirre has also emphasized playing, since a young age, two sports. “Being in the baseball team is a good opportunity for me because although playing two sports back to back can be exhausting and tiring to the body, baseball is something that I have been doing since a small age and I have learned from the game a lot,” Aguirre said.
Patrick Benavidez also hopes to get into a good college out of playing this sport. “It’s a good opportunity because colleges, if you play sports, they’ll look at it, and you have a better chance of getting into it.” Patrick Benavidez said.
Before being a coach at our school, Benavidez coached at Cathedral high school, South East high school, and Maywood academy. He became head baseball coach at MACES when it opened. “I was kind of sick of the other schools, where I would lose like half my team because of grades. So in all the seven years of being here at Maces, I’ve only lost one guy because of grades,” coach Benavidez said.
Coach Benavidez has also strongly implied how actions have a major role in baseball. Not just physically but also in being able to lead. “A good captain would be someone that everyone follows. They don’t have to be talkative to follow, their actions [should] do that. They set the tone for the games or practices [and] have to be motivational too,” Benavidez said.
Through coaching, he has been able to find the love for the sport once again. “Well it brought me back, like I said, to the love of baseball, [and] the connection with my son, and all these other guys,” Benavidez said.
Players have found the game challenging but also enjoyable. “I feel baseball has taught me discipline not just on the field but off. Although the things Benavidez implements may seem extreme to other people, they do allow all of us to become better people and improve our skills. I would say baseball can teach me to emphasize teamwork, discipline, and resilience,” Iglesias said.
