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Courtesy Xochitl Mora,

Game designed to encourage young baseball players to find opportunities with collegiate ball

(Laredo, Tx)-America’s past time. Fall ball.  Field of dreams. Whatever you call it, baseball still holds the romance, passion and excitement for American youth and nowhere is that more apparent than here in Laredo. To that end, the first ever exhibition baseball game, between the hometown favorites Laredo Community College Palominos and the visiting champions St. Mary’s University Rattlers will be played this Friday, October 12, 2012 at 6 PM at Uni-Trade Stadium for a four-hour time limit.  Entrance to the game is only $3.00 for adults and free for all students.

 “Local baseball here in Laredo shows amazing skill and potential for kids to continue beyond high school or even Pony or Little League,” said Assistant City Manager Jesus Olivares, who helped to organize this exhibition game.  “The level of collegiate baseball open to these athletes is hard, fast, and exciting, and this exhibition baseball game will give local kids – and their parents – a chance to check out their options of continuing their love of playing baseball once they finish high school.  For baseball fans out there, it should be a great game, as the teams are working out their kinks, trying out players in new positions and conditioning their teams for play against unfamiliar opponents and fields,” he concluded.

 For LCC baseball coach Eric Gonzalez, the game also signifies so much more. 

 “We are really excited to play at Uni-Trade Stadium, and it was really great of the City of Laredo to invite us and St. Mary’s to play,” he says. 

While St. Mary’s University is the visiting team, the atmosphere may seem like a home game for the Rattlers as native Laredoan second-year returning second baseman Mario Maldonado, III, returns with the team who last year made it to the NCAA-Division II World Series Tournament.  With plenty of alumni in the area who can turn out sporting their blue and gold, the atmosphere should have a nice rivalry feel to it that always enhances the energy and level of play on the field.  However, according to StMU baseball coach Charlie Migl, the fundamentals remain.

 “We feel real good that we have a lot of our pitching back from last year.  I think the biggest thing we have to do is pull everybody together and develop that good team chemistry we had last year. I know they’re excited about the upcoming season, but the thing is that with what happened last year now, everybody’s going to get ready to play you. We’ve got to rework it, retool it.  Getting that chemistry takes a lot of work, and that’s what we’re trying to do here in the fall.”

 NCAA rules for baseball games allow teams a total of four hours playing time, which can generally be about two nine-inning games. However, officially, no score will be kept.

 “Uni-Trade Stadium is proud to host the first ever exhibition college baseball game,” said Mark Schuster, managing partner, Ventura Sports Group.  “This stadium was built for big time baseball and aside from Laredo Lemurs baseball, nothing is bigger than college ball with two outstanding baseball programs.  I encourage all Laredoans to come out to Uni-Trade Stadium this Friday night and enjoy all the amenities this first-class facility offers for fans.”

 If great baseball and a great motivating tool for the youth aren’t enough to get you excited about the game, then how about the fun of talking smack about your opponents?  For Xochitl Mora Garcia, president of the St. Mary’s University Laredo Alumni Chapter, this game is in the bag for the Rattlers.

 “Last year, the Rattlers went to the Division-II World Series Tournament with a Laredoan on the team; the last time the Rattlers went to the World Series Tournament – and won! – there was a Laredoan on the team.  How can we lose?  Besides, we do have divine intervention on our side,” she said.

 For more information on the Rattlers team’s statistics, please see attached or visit: www.stmarytx.edu.