|
Local ball player looks to play ball overseas
A local baseball player has been chosen to represent Columbus and the United States overseas.
Rich Cash Gonzalez, a junior at Columbus High School, has been chosen to become a member of an elite baseball team traveling to Puerto Rico this summer. As a member of the Coast to Coast Baseball team, he will compete in the series, taking place July 20-28.
Gonzalez received the opportunity to showcase his skills for the Coast to Coast staff at a recent tryout that took place at Incarnate Word Univ-ersity. At the tryouts, he was evaluated in the areas of hitting, fielding, arm strength and speed.
Each year the Coast to Coast sees 1,500-2,000 players at a series of nationwide tryouts.
Additionally, the organization evaluates hundreds of applications from players unable to attend a tryout event. From this pool, approximately 300 roster spots, which comprises 20-25 teams, are filled with players seeking to play at one of the game's highest levels.
Coast to Coast Baseball is a national baseball and youth development program, which is based in Marietta, Ohio.
The program has been around for 10 years and has taken over 1,000 players from 46 different states to compete in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia and Puerto Rico. The program is geared toward serious players interested in pursuing a career beyond high school.
Coast to Coast's goal is to provide amateur ballplayers with outstanding instruction by top coaches who have played or coached at the collegiate or professional level; competition against some of the world's best international talent; education which includes topics like the college-recruiting process and the negative effects of performance-enhancing drugs and alcohol; and an opportunity to make international friends and to learn about a foreign culture and way of life.
In addition to Gonzalez's love for baseball, he is also a member of the National Honor Society at CHS as well as the FFA, T.A.F.E, H.O.S.A., Life Science and FCA.
He hopes to continue his baseball career at a higher level and major in marine biology or International Foreign Affairs.
In order to maintain his amateur status, Gonzalez will be seeking to raise his share of the team's cost. Anyone interested in making a donation can contact the Gonzalez family at (979) 732-9270 or (979) 733-4195
| 
