The Texas A&M baseball team has been dominant in the young season and sits at a perfect 9-0 with an average margin of victory of more than seven runs per game, which is why it may seem odd that the program is now looking for some outside help for this weekend’s series against Dartmouth.
Elias Gomez, who signed an official letter of intent Thursday with Texas A&M, is not your typical division one baseball recruit. For one, he’s only in the eighth grade. Gomez is a student at College Station Middle School, who readily admits that he has little experience in the game of baseball.
Even though he calls himself a fan of the Aggies, he says he’s never really followed the sport and doesn’t have a favorite player. When asked if he’d rather be a pitcher or a position player, he says he’s really only interested in hitting.
But proficiency in the sport of baseball is not the reason that the Aggies have brought the young Gomez on board. Instead, the Aggies were won over by his story and his courage. Gomez, who was put in touch with Texas A&M through Team Impact, is a cancer survivor. And although his attributes might not show up in the box score this weekend, head coach Rob Childress is certain that Elias already exemplifies everything he wants in a player.
“Our definition of the word relentless here at Texas A&M is this — we are physically and mentally tougher than all others at all times, even in the midst of adversity,” Childress said to Gomez at the presser. “That’s something that has really stood out to me in learning your story is that word, relentless. You are relentless and we feel very honored that you’re a part of our program.”
Childress said he is certain Texas A&M’s newest addition will be a game changer for the Aggies.
“We feel truly blessed that we found somebody that can take us from being good to really being great,” said Childress.
“We now have someone in Elias Gomez who has the potential to be a real impactful part of our program”
In an extensive Q&A session conducted by his new teammates, Elias revealed that his favorite TV show is “Adventure Time,” his favorite food is pepperoni pizza and his favorite subject is science. Gomez even went as far to imply that he is already very intrigued by the prospect of potentially pursuing further studies in the realms of biochemistry and engineering.
But that is for another day. Today Elias is an official member of the Texas Aggie baseball team and he’s up for whatever challenge or responsibility that title may bring.
“I’m honored to be here because Texas A&M has been my favorite university for a long time,” Gomez said. “I like to try new things and I think that this will be a really great experience for me.”
Gomez will be on hand Friday as the Aggies host the Dartmouth Big Green in what will be the visiting team’s season debut.
Junior AJ Minter will get the start on the mound at 6:30 p.m. at Blue Bell Park. Two more weekend games are scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday. All three games are available to be streamed live on SEC Network Plus.