Navedo transitions to college baseball, making dream a reality
Photo Courtesy of Kevin Navedo
Kevin Navedo hits a two run double in the conference battle against the Eastern Mennonite Royals. During his freshman season Navedo hit .229 with three home runs.
Many dream of hitting a home run to save the game. With two strikes and two outs on Kevin Navedo in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Streaks’ hopes of moving on in the playoffs were looking slim, but when the Woodgrove pitcher laced in another fast ball, Navedo sent the ball over the fence to advance the Streaks on a run ending in the state tournament. Although the Streaks’ season came to an end, the same could not be said for Navedo’s baseball career as he continues to play at Bridgewater college.
While in high school there is a struggle with balancing class work and athletics. Navedo believes that in college you really need to work on time management to be able to get everything done.
“It’s been stressful. Playing ball puts a lot on us. We come to school at 2 p.m. and practice until 7 p.m. We have homework after all that. There is barely any sleep,” Navedo said.
Aside from the school work, Navedo believes there is an increase of play on the field. With more selective recruiting processes, it is rare to find a weak team.
Kevin Navedo drives a ball into the gap in his junior season at HHS.
“The pitching is better and the athletes are way better. Any team you play, they are all good. It is a whole new level of baseball that is a lot better,” Navedo said.
Helping Navedo reach the college level was former coach Kevin Tysinger, who also played for Bridgewater during his college days. The head coach at Bridgewater, Curt Kendall, was the coach for Tysinger, and will now coach Navedo.
“I learned a lot from Tysinger, and I knew it was the same stuff I’d learn at Bridgewater. Tysinger was a big factor in that,” Navedo said.
Navedo had the opportunity to start as a freshman after beating out the returning second baseman. Navedo believes that the work he put in over the offseason helped lead him to the starting job.
“I felt awesome. I knew I had to earn it, there was a sophomore ahead of me who had experience playing college ball. Then, coach said ‘We are going to go with you since you put in a lot of work during the fall season.’ It was an honor for me. It felt good to earn my spot instead of it just being given to me,” Navedo said.
College baseball has become a tradition in Navedo’s family. His uncle, Alex Rios, was in the MLB for eleven years and was on the Kansas City Royals when they won the World Series in 2015. His brother, Luis Navedo, just finished his career at La Roche College in Pittsburgh, PA. Navedo hopes that his kids, as well as other high school ball players, will pursue a college baseball career.
“I would tell [my kids] college ball is something you would love to do. It doesn’t compare to high school ball. High school ball is fun, but college baseball is another level. You are going to love it. It is the best thing you will ever do in your life,” Navedo said.
Navedo believes the best part about playing college baseball was reaching the goal he set before he even set foot on a high school field. While he still has three years left at the college level, Navedo hopes to play baseball for as long as possible.
“It was best thing that ever happened to me. Having that goal that I set when I was eleven years old to now I want to be even better and move on to the next level,” Navedo said.
