Chasing runs, finding brotherhood
Someone once said, “Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” For a majority of his life aside from being a great student, brother and son, senior Vincent Sanchez’s job has been to be the best ballplayer he can be.
Sanchez grew up in the Houston area. This is where his love for baseball started to grow as he grew up in a baseball family with his older brother slowly guiding him into the sport.
Sanchez would form a true love for the sport and formed friendships that would come full circle.
“Our relationship has always been super good even as kids. There was a time where we didn’t talk for years or maybe just a text or two but when we played summer ball together this past summer nothing changed with our friendship. It still felt the same even though we haven’t talked in a long time,” said longtime friend/current teammate Jessie Moreno.
Sanchez attended Heights High School in Houston. In his senior year he batted a .529. He went on to redshirt at the University of New Orleans. Sanchez spent one year there before going to Galveston Junior College playing two seasons with the Whitecaps.
Sanchez’s next stop was Kingsville to come play for the Javelinas.
“To me, it means everything. Playing for this organization has taught me a lot about brotherhood. Ever since I joined with TAMUK, I was introduced to the pack baseball mentality, being part of this team and the culture that we have built. This is something I have never been a part of,” he said.
Sanchez was recognized for his outstanding 2024 season during The South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet. And so far, this year he’s first on the team in OPS (.907), Doubles (12), RBIs (23) and Bases by Balls (24). He also sits second on the team in Hits (41) and Batting Average (.333).
“Vinny (Vincent) has been a good hitter for us in the middle of our lineup now for two years and understands our system. He’s been a guy we can count on to be a presence in the lineup every day. He’s got the ability to hit with runners in scoring position,” Head Coach Jason Gonzales said.
With being in his fifth year of his collegiate career and one of the lone returners on the offensive side for the Javelinas, Sanchez took on the responsibility of becoming a leader for the team. Stepping up as the leader wasn’t unfimiliar territory for Sanchez as he had been Captain for his high school team.
“Being one of the leaders for this team has been a cool experience,” Sanchez said. “I know what it feels like to go to a new school and have no one welcome you. I wanted to make sure that nobody on this team felt that way.
“I felt like it was my job to keep the new guys in line and show them the way we do things around here. I wanted the new guys to come to me with questions about our system since I was here last year and knew what this program should look like. As a leader I wanted to make sure this team had a special bond.”
With Sanchez nearing the end of his collegiate career he has aspirations of sticking around the game.
“What I really want to do and have been applying for is getting a job with an MLB team in the office. I want to work behind the scenes with the team and use what I’ve learned my whole life, which is this sport baseball,” Sanchez said.