Lakeside senior infielder Jesus Minjarez will be taking the field at Trojan Field next season as part of the inaugural National Park College Nighthawk baseball team.
Minjarez, who has played behind the plate at catcher and at first and third bases, will join coach Dillon Hargrove's first team at NPC.
"National Park was one of the first schools that reached out to me and saw the talent that I had," he said. "They put in time and effort to put me in that program. That's one of the main reasons. There's nothing better than staying at home and having friends and family support you throughout everything."
Lakeside head coach Leighton Hardin said that Minjarez has had a breakout year for the Rams this season. The senior sports a .367 average over 24 appearances this season with a team-leading four home runs and six doubles.
"During conference play, he hit around .560 with four home runs, and they were big home runs," Hardin said. "It was Benton, Lake Hamilton game to get us going. Sheridan (he) hit a grand slam, then in Texarkana in the seventh inning (he hit one) to bring us back into the game when we went down there. He stepped up whenever it counted."
Minjarez also has a .700 slugging average, which ranks second on the team, with a .467 on-base percentage.
Hardin said that he thinks Minjarez's choice to play at NPC is a good one.
"He's had a few schools that have been pretty interested in him," he said. "He wanted to help start the program at National Park, which I think is a great thing because he loves Hot Springs, and he wants to help build the community here. It's going to be a good thing for him to be out there."
The weight of being among the first players for National Park is not lost on Minjarez.
"I feel like it's a big moment, having a legacy of being one of the first players to sign for National Park," he said. "I think it will definitely lead to something bigger."
Sports on 05/03/2019