EDINBURG – University of Texas-Pan American baseball senior pitcher Blake English has been around the game of baseball since he was a child.
 
English's dad played baseball and was even signed by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1990s as a third baseman but he gave it up when he learned that he was starting a family. A couple of years later, he picked up adult softball and took English with him.
 
"He was signed by the Reds in 1993," English said. "He found out that he was having me and with a family on the way he decided to give up baseball and raise me. He ended up playing softball. I have been around the game for years. Ever since I was in a stroller, I was at the park with him."
 
Baseball runs in English's family. Not only did his dad play but also his younger brother is currently playing high school baseball and English says that he will be better than he is some day.
 
"My little brother is a junior in high school and it is big with him," English said. "He plays pitcher, catcher and shortstop the same things I played. He is going to be better than me, hands down. I was throwing 82-84 as a junior and then 86-88 as senior and he is already at 84-86 as a junior."
 
English started playing baseball at around four years old but ever since he could pick up a bat, he has always loved the game.
 
"I actually started in season, fulltime baseball when I was four years old," English said. "Ever since I could pick up a bat, probably around two years old, we used to go in the backyard and hit. I was three when he started to throw overhand to me and I would hit the ball, as I got ready for coach pitch."
 
Everyone has that one moment that sticks out the most. For English, when talking about little league baseball, that one moment wasn't on the mound but at the shortstop position.
 
"I had many great plays but there is one that I will never forget," English said. "There were runners on first and second with two outs and the runner on second was the tying run. I think I was nine years old at the time and I was playing shortstop. The kid hit it in between the third baseman and me. I dove and the ball took a bad hop and I threw my glove up and caught the ball. I got up and the third baseman and second baseman were nowhere to be found. I threw it all the way across the diamond for the final out to hold on for the win."
 
In high school, English played at Del Valle High School where he earned First Team All-District honors as a senior. English started out as a third baseman in high school while also seeing plenty of time on the mound. He took the advice of his coach and turned most of his attention to pitching.
 
After high school, English went to Lon Morris College and played one season before the school was shut down. He had planned to stick around for his second season even after his head coach left for Incarnate Word.
 
English had to make a decision about his baseball future. He would have to start all over at a new school or stop playing baseball. For English, he couldn't stop playing baseball.
 
"I got a call from my head coach and said that Lon Morris was shutting down," English said. "He asked me what I wanted to do. He said I had to give him a choice there and then unless I didn't want to play anymore. I told him no, I can't just stop playing baseball. So I made the decision to go to Cisco Junior College."
 
As a sophomore, English went 4-0 at Cisco Junior College with a 2.55 ERA while pitching 24.2 innings and striking out 14. He battled through an elbow issue that season so he didn't get to pitch as many innings as he wanted.
 
Even with the lack of innings, English was being looked at by Stephen F. Austin University, the University of Texas, University of Houston and of course UTPA. He went on a visit to Stephen F. Austin and even talked to Skip Johnson at Texas but he didn't like what he was hearing.
 
"I went on a visit to Stephen F. Austin and it was basically my biggest offer," English said. "I talked to Skip Johnson during my senior year in high school and then again before I went to Cisco. I didn't like what I was getting offered and it was going to be tough to pay for school."
 
English was still hoping to get some better offers and he did. He got a call from Broncs associate head coach Norberto Lopez and they set up a time so that he could throw a bullpen session.
 
"I talked to Houston for a little bit but then I got a call from coach Lopez," English said. "He was going to come down and watch some of us from Cisco throw a bullpen. So he comes down and they put me on the gun and I was 88-92 and right then and there he said that I was going to be his guy. I get down here and coach Mantrana tells me that I am going to be our number three guy."
 
It came down to Stephen F. Austin and UTPA. English wasn't sure about the Rio Grande Valley as he thought it was a rough part of Texas. The coaching staff here at UTPA made sure to debunk all those thoughts.
 
English also learned that coach Mantrana and coach Lopez are men of their words, which is one thing he loves about them. At the end, English was glad he chose UTPA over SFA.
 
"The reason I love and respect coach Mantrana and coach Lopez is because they are a man of their word," English said. "I found out some things about Stephen F. Austin in which I am glad I didn't go there. I have to thank them for everything they have done. They have done so much. They have kept their word. Everything they told my mom was pretty on point. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
 
In his first season at UTPA, English was part of a three-headed monster pitching staff that was made up of English, Sam Street and Alex Henson. English went 6-4 with a 2.61 ERA in his junior season. That season, he had a pair of games where he was completely dominated his opponents.
 
English tossed a one-hitter against Chicago State on April 26, which also earned him WAC Pitcher of the Week, and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against Sacramento State while pitching his third shutout in five starts.
 
His outing in Chicago was the one that sticks out to him the most. A couple of days before he was scheduled to pitch against the Cougars, English hurt himself in the weight room and could barely move his right arm, which was a struggle for him on the teams travel day.
 
He worked with the athletic training staff to get ready for his start on Saturday. He put some muscle cream on and used a lot of ice and was trying to do everything he could to pitch.
 
"I ended up putting some atomic cream on it and icing it," English said. "I was trying to do everything I could to pitch that weekend. We ended up playing two games that day because of bad weather, so they ended up pitching me the last game."
 
As he warmed up for his game, English realized that he could barely throw. He also realized that there wasn't much he could do at that point and he didn't want to let his team down. He tried to throw a couple of pitches and he realized that he couldn't throw anything but fastballs.
 
"I threw a change up about 50 feet and said to myself, that isn't too good," English said. "The next pitch, I threw a curveball and threw it about 57 feet, which was still short of the plate. That is when I realized that all I had was a fastball. I threw one change up and one curveball and 95 fastballs that day."
 
The fastball had done the trick as he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He had allowed one runner the whole game, which was a walk in the fifth inning. He had thrown a couple of no-hitters in little league and high school but never at the collegiate level but as luck would have it, he wouldn't get it in Chicago.
 
"I allowed one guy through the entire lineup on base with a walk," English said. "In the eighth inning, I had a no-hitter going. I had two outs and the batter comes up and hits a weak groundball between the second baseman and me. The second baseman comes up with it and throws it to first. The guy's foot was still in the air when our first baseman catches the ball and the umpire called him safe."
 
English would strike out the next batter and then retired the side in the ninth to complete the one-hitter. For English, it was something that he kept thinking about over and over again.
 
"It replayed in my mind forever," English said. "What would have happened if I tried to make the play on that ball or what would have happened if I had put the pitch two inches to the right or maybe even two inches to the left. I think about it all the time and I still wonder what could I have done differently to get that no-hitter."
 
English is majoring in Rehabilitation and would like to get his master's in physical therapy. He wants to continue to play baseball but knows that he can't do that forever.
 
"I am majoring in rehab right now," English said. "I am thinking about taking a couple of classes and getting my master's in physical therapy. I still want to play baseball. I am not having the best year. I started off really hot and these last couple of weeks haven't been going my way, but it is no reason to slack of. I have been working harder and harder every week."
 
This season, English has posted a 2-4 record through 10 appearances and he knows things haven't been going in his favor lately but he still hopes to hear his name come draft day.
 
As a senior, English has some words of advice for his younger teammates. He knows that time flies and before you know it, you are wishing you could have taken more advantage of your time.
 
"Stick with it," English said. "As seniors, you don't want to have any regrets. You don't want to look and wish you would have worked harder or you wish you had a better sophomore season or you should have worked out more in your junior season. Stay on it, work your hardest and keep your grades up because if baseball doesn't work out, you could have something to fall back on."