Baseball was his everything.
This has been true since elementary school, when he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up and answered with “an MLB player.” When his teacher told him to come up with something more “realistic,” instead of changing his passion, Marcos Paz dedicated his life to making that his reality.
Now a junior, Paz has been in contact with college coaches since the summer before his freshman year, attending different practices, camps and visiting campuses. Due to a NCAA recruitment rule which states that college athletic departments “are not allowed to be involved in a recruit’s unofficial visits before Aug. 1 of a prospect’s junior year,” Paz officially started this process Aug. 1 of this year. Paz went on to commit to Louisiana State University (LSU) on Sept. 25 of this year — his No. 1 choice.
“What really secured it for me was the coaches,” Paz said. “[LSU] just pulled the pitching coach from Texas A&M. I had a really good relationship with [him] from talking on the phone and in camps, so I trusted him with everything. Then, once I got to campus on my visit a few weeks ago, they had everything that I was looking for.”
Paz grew up throwing the ball around and playing sports. He balanced being a multisport athlete for the majority of his childhood. He had a shared love for football, as a quarterback, and baseball, as a pitcher, but said he always knew baseball was his end all, be all. By the end of his freshman year, he knew letting go of football was the right choice.
“I liked football, but there were just some things that I couldn’t do for baseball if I was playing football,” Paz said. “There’s nothing I would rather do than play baseball. That’s what I want to do with my life, that’s where I want to be, and I’ll do anything that I need to do [to get there].”
The recruitment process varies according to the athlete, but Paz said it was “extremely busy for him.” His plan was to be gone on visits every weekend of October before he committed to LSU, which his parents were extremely supportive of. After many phone calls and a visit to the school, it wasn’t just Paz who loved it there. His mother, Denise Paz, said everything about LSU felt like home.
“It’s all still a little bit surreal,” Denise said. “We’ve had a lot of people tell us ‘oh, he’s really good.’ [But] to us, he’s just Marcos; that’s how he’s always played and how he’s always been. His work ethic is really good and he always wanted to throw, hit or catch [a] ball.”
Paz’s girlfriend, junior Addison Vary, said he is “a very humble and quiet person.” When they first met, she said she didn’t even know he played baseball. She said the sport has helped him grow as a person, rather than just as an athlete.
“I didn’t know he was this super cool, well-known baseball guy,” Vary said. “He’s just the most humble person I’ve ever met in my life [and] always puts others first. He is growing, he wants to learn, he’s a great student and I’m just so proud of him and how [far] he’s come.”
Corey Farra, Paz’s current coach, is new to Hebron and has only known him for nine weeks. He said Paz is an “extraordinary athlete, but an even better person.” Farra said he believes Paz is truly present for the baseball team, even though he has only known him for a short amount of time.
“Anytime that he has missed baseball offseason class, there was a hole in our program,” Farra said. “He’s not the most vocal person we have, but when his presence is not here, it’s definitely felt.”
Paz said LSU isn’t like any other school he’s visited. He plans to turn baseball into a professional career, and get drafted by a Major League Baseball team.
“They bring in 12,000 fans a game, and it’s just the atmosphere that’s [incomparable],” Paz said. “Everybody cares about LSU baseball; there’s no place like it. You might have more people at another game, but all 12,000 LSU fans care about who’s going to win the game.”
Video by Kinza Mawani and Addie Brumbelow