Moving from being a panther to a cougar, graduating senior Chad De La Guerra has a bright future ahead of him.
The Pioneer Valley High School graduate will be playing for College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, where he hopes to make the starting lineup for the Canyon Cougars.
This achievement is due to De La Guerra’s amazing skill and agility on the baseball diamond as a shortstop and second baseman.
De La Guerra’s baseball beginnings stemmed from his parents putting him in little league baseball and T-ball when he was 6 years old, and he’s been playing ever since.
From there, De La Guerra continued to excel at the sport, playing four years of varsity baseball for the Pioneer Valley Panthers.
“I just think it’s a great game; there’s nothing else I’d do,” De La Guerra said. “Not only is it fun, but it keeps you out of trouble and it got me into college. It’s just fun to me.”
It was De La Guerra’s passionate attitude toward the game that caught the attention of Santa Maria Reds Manager Robert Guana.
“He’s just a baseball guy. He eats and sleeps baseball,” Guana said. “That’s what’s on his mind 24/7.”
Guana has known De La Guerra since the athlete was 9, but he only recently started coaching him.
“He has the fastest hands we’ve ever seen, and his effort on the field is always 110 percent. Any time I put him on the field, I’m confident, wherever he plays,” Guana said. “And Chad is a leader by example. He’s not the most vocal player out there, but he leads by his actions on the field.”
De La Guerra has had plenty of training to bring him this far, typically practicing six days a week for two to three hours during the baseball season.
Even during the summer, De La Guerra’s dedication doesn’t falter. He trains three or four days a week for at least two hours.
With such an intense regimen, there isn’t a lot of free time for De La Guerra, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, the young athlete comes across as thankful for being able to do what he loves and just play ball.
This article appears in Aug 18-25, 2011.