Briana Rodriguez commits to Texas School

Briana Rodriguez, Texas Rangers Youth Academy athlete and James Bowie Excessive Faculty senior, introduced her dedication to additional her training and softball profession at Texas School final month.

“I chosen Texas School as a result of I felt very welcomed by the softball program,” stated Rodriguez. “Whereas on my go to, I realized quite a bit concerning the college and I consider I’ll slot in nicely at a campus just like the one Texas School supplies for his or her college students.”

Rodriguez, who plans to check legal justice whereas at school, is happy to have discovered her house in Tyler, Texas, after an extended however profitable recruitment course of.

My faculty recruitment course of concerned plenty of arduous work,” she stated. “I realized that when coaches are recruiting, they’re on the lookout for extra than simply expertise in a participant. I needed to belief the method, however in the long run, it was price it.”

All through her 5 years coaching on the Youth Academy, Rodriguez has collected many accolades and confirmed what it takes to achieve success on and off the diamond.

The second baseman and pitcher claimed two Rangers RBI Softball championships with the Gophers in 2020 and 2021, was named a Whataburger Rising Star in 2021 for her power, willpower, management and performed on the Rangers’ 2022 Jennie Finch Basic All-Star group, the place she competed in Los Angeles as a part of MLB’s All-Star Week.

After years of dedication to fine-tuning her expertise and coaching day after day with Youth Academy workers, Rodriguez is aware of she is able to degree up.

“The Rangers Youth Academy has offered me with superb alternatives to study and enhance as an individual and an athlete,” she stated. “Enjoying on the Rangers Academy has taught me to all the time give my all since you by no means know when somebody is watching. By all the pieces I’ve labored arduous for on the Academy, I’ve been taught find out how to adapt to enjoying with new folks and have an open thoughts in relation to being coached.

“When I’m enjoying with my new group, I’ll convey drive, willpower and self-discipline. I’ll make my group higher by constructing belief and giving my all as a student-athlete,” she added.

The Texas School Steers, who at the moment sit at a 12-8 file to start out the 2023 season, will look to enhance their on-field efficiency with the arrival of Rodriguez for the 2024 season.

Winter programming ends, registration opens for spring session

The Texas Rangers Youth Academy accomplished one other profitable winter programming session for its athletes this week. The eight-week session noticed a whole bunch of children ages 7-18 develop baseball and softball expertise with Rangers Youth Academy coaches.

With the conclusion of the winter session comes the start of the spring session, happening from March 28 to April 27.

Athletes ages 7-12 taking part in 9U and 12U spring programming will prepare on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Athletes in 18U programming will prepare solely on Wednesday nights because of the highschool baseball and softball seasons at the moment underway.

Programming is out there for free of charge to athletes of all talent ranges, who will divide into specialised teams for hands-on teaching in a wide range of areas, together with hitting, fielding, throwing, base working and extra.

Moreover, athletes ages 13-18 might register for spring weight room exercises earlier than Wednesday evening programming to work on power coaching with Sprint Johnson, former Academy coach and present Supervisor of Youth Academy Baseball and Softball Operations.

Registration for Texas Rangers Youth Academy spring programming and weight room exercises is open now and can stay open all through the five-week session. To register your little one, go to texasrangers.com/academy.

Ladies’s Historical past Month highlight: Miranda Castaneda

Miranda Castaneda began enjoying ball when she was simply seven years previous. Like many younger girls, she first performed baseball, following within the footsteps of her father and older brother, earlier than discovering her solution to softball.

Through the years, Castaneda had an on-and-off relationship with the sport however all the time managed to seek out her means again to the softball diamond.

“I like softball as a result of I get to push myself and make new associates,” she stated. “It is one thing I all the time stay up for, and I like competitors.”

After her freshman yr of highschool, Castaneda, who on the time was rediscovering her curiosity within the sport, joined the Texas Rangers Youth Academy, the place she discovered her largest inspiration in Academy coach MacKenzie Velasquez.

“She helped me discover love for the sport once more,” stated Castaneda. “I sort of misplaced it, and being along with her, she’s among the best coaches I’ve had. We simply get one another.

“She confirmed me that you do not all the time need to go Division I, you can begin wherever you need, like in JuCo (junior faculty) and that it’s a superb possibility too. She helps me get higher, teaches me new stuff, helps me with scholarships, the place to go, who to speak to and all the time pushes me to do higher.”

In simply three years coaching on the Youth Academy, Castaneda has confirmed her worth on the diamond as an offensive menace and versatile defender enjoying each third base and catcher. She’s obtained alternatives for MLB Develops occasions just like the Breakthrough Sequence and Elite Improvement Invitational, performed within the Rangers RBI League and was on the 2022 Jennie Finch Basic All-Star group, amongst different accomplishments.

She hopes her accolades present a path to play collegiate softball in junior faculty with goals of transferring to a bigger program after honing her expertise at the next degree.

Along with working with coaches like Velasquez frequently, by means of her experiences on the Texas Rangers Youth Academy, Castaneda has met a number of of her softball heroes, together with Lauren Chamberlain, Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman and Jocelyn Alo.

“[Working with former softball stars] was enjoyable, I can say that. They taught me extra about softball and what schools search for and it was enjoyable simply being on the market with them as a result of they taught me a lot, and I really bear in mind it,” she stated.

“You do not all the time need to be excellent. You are going to fail greater than you’ll succeed— that is one thing that is caught with me.”

Recommendation from athletes who’ve come earlier than her and assist from her favourite coaches, have fueled Castaneda on her journey to conducting her softball targets.

“A bunch of ladies cease enjoying as a result of they assume we will’t make it that far, however softball provides you large alternatives similar to baseball,” she stated. “Ladies did not all the time have the alternatives that guys have and these women [at the Youth Academy] present that women can do something in addition to guys.”

Castaneda and two of her greatest associates on the Academy, Ana Gonzalez and Gio Frias, are prime examples of feminine athletes setting the usual and reaching new heights day in and day trip.

“We push one another,” she stated. “We attempt to come on daily basis to those Academy occasions and once we compete towards one another, it is enjoyable, however we attempt to follow collectively, work collectively, and get higher collectively.”

Always working to enhance, Castaneda will redefine what it means to be a softball star as she pursues a school enjoying profession, with hopes to at some point change into somebody younger women can look as much as.