EDINBURG – Senior Jose Garcia, of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley baseball team, remembers watching the College World Series on television as a kid and knew one day he wanted to play college baseball.
 
"I always wanted to go to a Division I school ever since I was little," Garcia said. "When I was five or six, me and my brother would watch ESPN and we would watch the College World Series and see the Longhorns and all these schools we didn't even know. Ever since then, it was my dream and his dream to play against the big schools."
 
Garcia's journey started in Sonora, Mexico where he grew up with his brother, former UTRGV alum Jesus Garcia, and the rest of his family. Garcia's dad introduced him to the game when he was three years old. He started playing the game once his brother started playing even though he was a year younger.
 
Garcia's dad grew up playing basketball but he always wanted to play baseball even though he couldn't because he had to help his family work. He always found baseball interesting and he wanted his sons to learn how to play the game.
 
The trio shared the love for the game and together they worked to get better. Garcia remembers those early Sunday mornings of waking up at 5 a.m. to get a practice in before church. He hated waking up so early but he looks back and he's glad his dad pushed him so much.
 
"Before church on Sunday's we would wake up at five in the morning and go to the field," Garcia said. "At that age, for me it was really hard because I was the youngest. I just wanted to sleep and really didn't care that much at the time. My brother was always ready though. At the beginning, I was always complaining but at the end I was happy because I was practicing with my dad and my brother. After we were done we would go shower and go to church."
 
Garcia spent years playing baseball throughout Sonora and throughout Mexico. Sonora is well known for its talent in the game of baseball and he continued to grow and get better.
 
At 15 years old, Garcia moved to San Diego, California where he started high school as a sophomore. It was a bit tough for Garcia because he didn't know much English. His brother had spent some time in Arizona so when they moved to San Diego he was ahead of the curve compared to Garcia.
 
The good thing for him was that San Diego was close to the border so many talked Spanish and he was able to communicate while he learned how to speak English. He also knew that if he wanted to continue to follow his dreams he was going to have to learn how to speak English.
 
Moving to San Diego also meant that there was going to be a change to the style of baseball that he played. In Sonora, baseball is played with a certain enthusiasm and flash while in San Diego, there is more strategy to it while not being so out there.
 
"The environment was a little more quiet there and more technical," Garcia said. "In Mexico, it is more fluent and not as much strategy is used. We go out there and play and have fun while here we go out there with a plan. Everything is organized and that was probably the biggest thing."
 
Garcia continued to thrive while playing in San Diego. He remembers a game where he hit home runs in back-to-back at bats. He remembers that game because it was also the first time he got to pitch since he was a kid.
 
He wanted to see what he had on the mound and his coach let him test his abilities. Garcia threw two different types of pitches that game. He said he had a fastball and an even faster fastball. His primary position throughout high school was catcher and he continued that as he went on to Galveston Community College.
 
Garcia had schools looking at him since he was a sophomore in high school. He participated in a workout where he hit eight home runs during batting practice so there were several schools interested in him but he wasn't ready to go to the Division I level just yet because of his English.
 
Much of his life Garcia has followed in the footsteps of his brother. When his brother moved to San Diego so did Garcia. So when his brother went to Galveston Community College, Garcia did the same.
 
While he worked on his academics to make it to the Division I level, Garcia was showing that he had the talent as a freshman. He hit .316 that season with five doubles, two triples and two home runs that year. He also recorded 30 RBI and scored 33 times in 49 games.
 
As a sophomore he continued to get better as he posted a .410 batting average with 13 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 35 RBI and scored 22 times.
 
Garcia knew he was good enough to play at the Division I level and it was hard for him to make it there. In his final semester at Galveston Community College, he had to take 22 hours to make sure he qualified to play at the next level and he did.
 
He had schools that were interested in him like Lamar University and the University of Central Florida but he feels like they shied away because of his grades. Garcia decided to follow in his brother's footsteps yet again and came down to the Rio Grande Valley.
 
He signed on as an outfielder with UTRGV but in his first season he saw plenty of action behind the dish. He worked at both the left field position and the catcher position and for him it's all about going out there and helping the team where ever they need him.
 
"I came over here and they tried me out at catcher," Garcia said. "I said I would do whatever as long as I get to play. At catcher, I didn't do that bad so I stayed there. I knew I was going to play a couple of games in the outfield. I love outfield too because it's so relaxed out there."
 
It didn't really matter where he played as he produced for UTRGV in his first season. Garcia led the team with a .369 batting average while hitting a team leading 13 doubles and adding 19 RBI with 16 stolen bases.
 
He made highlight play after highlight play but he had one that was very special to him. It even ranks more special than hitting for the cycle earlier this season. On April 15, 2016, Garcia did something that is hard to do and that was steal home.
 
It was a special moment for Garcia, not because he stole home on Jackie Robinson Day, whose one of his more memorable highlights was the stealing of home in the World Series, but because his mom was in attendance that day seeing him play for the first time in a long time.
 
"I think the best one was stealing home plate because my mom was here," Garcia said. "It was her first game watching me in college. I think that was the most memorable. Hitting for the cycle was pretty cool too but stealing home in front of my mom was special."
 
Garcia has had to spend so much time away from his family after he left from Sonora. While he has learned to live on his own and survive, he has had his brother around.
 
After Jesus graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American, he became a volunteer coach with UTRGV. Garcia was able to have him around to get advice from about both life and baseball.
 
Garcia has benefited having his brother so close. Jesus, who is now off starting his career, still makes time to come to the games and watch Garcia play and to practice with him.
 
"Even though, he is not a coach here anymore, he takes his days off and goes out to practice with me whenever I ask him to," Garcia said. "There has been a lot of advice from him in both baseball and school. It's been really, really helpful."
 
The Garcia brothers put in a lot of hard work in between the end of his junior season and the beginning of his senior season. Garcia has had a goal in mind that could be fulfilled later this summer but the progress could be seen this season at UTRGV.
 
Garcia leads the team with a .333 batting average through 27 games and has hit six home runs while driving in 28. He has played in left field all season long and has provided solid defense in the outfield with several more highlight reel plays.
 
Garcia is majoring in multidisciplinary studies. His goal is to continue to play baseball at the professional level. He knows that one doesn't have to be drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft to be considered a professional baseball player.
 
He knows there is a possibility of hearing his name called in the MLB Draft this June but Garcia is not too worried about it. If it happens it happens, but if it doesn't then he can go to plan b.
 
"I know I have a good chance but I am not worried about it," Garcia said. "If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, then there are a lot of professional teams in Mexico that want me right now. I am not worried about it. I definitely want to play here first than with the teams in Mexico but I am not putting that pressure on me. If it's going to happen then it's going to happen."
 
Garcia knows that there is no end to continuing to work and get better. He knows he has the talent but he knows that he has to work on his mental game, which will be important at the next level.
           
He has had to work hard ever since he started getting up early to practice with his dad and his brother before church on Sundays. Through it all he has had fun on the field and he can't believe his college days are almost over.
 
He hopes that his teammates after him will have fun as well because the days go by fast.
 
"Just have fun," Garcia said. "It goes by fast. It feels like yesterday it was the fall and now it's already spring. It came by quick. You have to go out there and have fun everyday and make the most of it."

Support UTRGV Baseball | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube