From start to finish

Closer fulfills fatherʼs childhood dream to play baseball

LYNN ROSADO Sports Editor @RosadoLynn

Agood closer in baseball takes over where the starter left off, hoping to complete a successful performance.

Pablo Gonzalez has been doing that since he was a child, trying to complete his dad’s dream of becoming a professional player.

Gonzalez, 21, a criminal justice major and a sophomore righty for the Pierce College baseball team made various adjustments before realizing his potential as a hurler.

“I started playing baseball when I was three,” Gonzalez said. “When I started I was a first baseman and an outfielder. As I got older, they turned me into a pitcher, and my dad happened to be one. He’s the one that got me into it. At first I didn’t want to pitch, but he showed me and I started liking it.”

Gonzalez’s father, Ramiro Gonzalez, saw his son’s interest in baseball from the start and used his knowledge and experience to teach him the basics.

“My dad played baseball all of his life,”

Gonzalez said. “He came over here from Mexico so he never really got the opportunity to play in high school or any of that because he had to work.”

Gonzalez’s memory of when he developed his love for the game comes with childhood memories he shared with his father.

“There’s one pretty funny moment I remember from when I was a kid,” Gonzalez said. “Me and my dad were practicing and I told my dad not to hit me, so he tossed it and he ended up hitting me. I ended up chasing him all over the field with a baseball bat trying to hit him.”

[See GONZALEZ , pg. 8]