“Vamos, Angel! Relajado! Macanea!”
Tijuana baseball slang bursts from the dugout as the Jaguars show support for their slugging second baseman, Angel Estrada.
From the stands, Estrada looks like any other community college baseball player. His helmet is pulled low over his steady eyes, his nimble fingers grasping his bat, ready for the pitch.
Estrada has taken the Jaguar’s season by storm, leading the pack with 10 runs and 13 walks. He has a .370 conference batting average and 11 RBIs for the season, second best in the lineup. His conference slugging percentage is .519. SWC’s pivot man is beloved by coaches and teammates alike.
Although he seems to be in his natural element on the field, Estrada’s journey to SWC’s beisbol diamond has been anything but typical.
Estrada began playing baseball at nine in Tijuana where his family lives. He played in Tijuana until he was 16. Baseball changed everything.
“In 2010 I was on a team in TJ and we played at a Sweetwater Little League tournament,” he said. “I remember playing in the tournament and we did really well.”
After the game Estrada said a coach from an out-of-state team approached him and told him he should consider moving to the U.S. to expand his opportunities. Alfonso and Sandra Rivas, family friends residing in the Eastlake, spoke to his parents about letting Estrada stay with them. His parents agreed.
“I moved to Eastlake for my freshman year of high school,” he said. “I was by myself in high school living with the Rivas’.”
Estrada is part of a generation of U.S. citizens who were born in the U.S. to migrant parents, but grew up in Mexico. Until moving to Eastlake, he had little exposure to American culture.
“I moved to Tijuana when I was four years old because neither of my parents have papers,” said Estrada. “My older brother and I were born here and my two younger brothers were born in TJ.”
On weekends, Estrada said, he was able to go back to Tijuana to visit his family, a trip he continues to make five years later. Half the week he goes to school, the other half of the week he spends in Mexico.
“I knew that it was going to be hard,” he said. “I registered at Eastlake in ninth grade in 2011. It was a surprise because I was expecting to be in Tijuana for two more months. I knew I was going to spend most of my week here and it would only be on the weekends that I could go back to see my friends and family.”
Estrada quickly made a good impression on the field at Eastlake and made the varsity team his freshman year.
“I was very excited because I was a freshman and for me that was like the next level,” he said. “I had a really good season and it gave me the opportunity to get to know my teachers and make other friends.”
Baseball was easier than earning an education in a foreign language, said Estrada. Because of the language barrier and the pacing of the school system, he said he struggled to keep up.
“I’m honestly not that good at school, but I do put in the effort,” he said. “In Mexico, in middle school, I mostly just hung out with friends and I didn’t really try as much. When I came over here, school was very hard and I knew that to be here in the USA and to be with these people and to be part of the game, I needed to get really good grades, so I had to put in a lot of effort.”
Estrada said he spent the first two weeks of school mostly by himself because he did not speak English and he did not begin making friends until baseball season started.
“That was a tough year,” he said. “I started working harder for my classes in high school. I made it but it was really hard.”
Estrada stayed with Jose and Rosa Godoy for his last three years of high school. Now he lives with Jaguar infielder and former Eastlake teammate Luke Ramirez.
“I went to high school with Angel,” he said. “We’ve been really good friends and he’s gotten to know my family. When we both got (to SWC) together, he was still living across the border in Tijuana where his parents live. He had asked me if it would be okay to stay at my house, just to make it easier when we have practices and when he has classes early in the morning. Of course we said yes.”
Ramirez said Estrada fits right into the family.
“My family loves Angel,” he said. “He’s very studious. He gets his homework done and goes to bed pretty early, too. He’s a really focused kid when it comes to school and making sure he gets his rest. That being said, we do love to play video games like any normal teenage kids.”
Ramirez said he is astounded by Estrada’s drive.
“Even though English is his second language, just helping him out with his classes, it’s amazing to me how quickly he learned the language from his freshman year of high school to now,” he said. “And not just the language, but doing math and trying to write essays just like students who speak English do. All the challenges he’s overcome and to still be able to play the game at the level that he does is really special.”
Jaguar Head Coach Jay Martel said Estrada is one of the sharpest players he has ever coached.
“Estrada is phenomenal,” he said. “He’s got great hands, a good glove. He’s a highly intelligent baseball player. He knows situations as a defensive and an offensive player. He knows when he needs to take a pitch, when he needs to throw the ball hard, and when he needs to charge it or turn it.”
Some might say that Estrada has a unique flair when he plays, but Martel said he is just demonstrating baseball done right.
“He makes things look easy,” said Martel. “He fields the ball easily. He’s never in a rush. He’s got soft hands. He knows when he needs to throw the ball, when he can throw it softly. And his range is good. He reads the ball well off the bat. I don’t think it’s anything unique, I think it’s just much smoother than most people do it.”
Ramirez said he and Estrada played infield together at Eastlake, but Estrada played shortstop in high school. Ramirez said the change to second base has worked out well.
“It’s taken a little pressure off him defensively,” said Ramirez. “He can focus on his at-bats a little bit more and try to be a bigger part of the line up which has helped us to this point offensively.”
His background as a shortstop may be part of what has made Estrada so good at second base, said Ramirez.
“He does a good job getting to the ball,” he said. “He has shortstop range and a shortstop arm playing second base. He as a lot of confidence to get to any ball that is hit to his side.”
Estrada is a wonder off the field as well, exhibiting sportsmanship and quiet patience that has earned him the respect of his teammates and mentors.
“He has great character,” said Martel. “He always has a smile on his face even if things are going badly. Every day he comes to practice and he comes to practice hard.”
Sophomore infielder Codie Simmons said Estrada is a great teammate.
“I love working with him,” said Simmons. “He is a hard worker who gets the job done.”
Estrada is more modest, brimming with gratitude for a program he said loves.
“I am very proud to play for the coaches and with my teammates,” he said. “They always support me in everything. It’s a good team. From what I can tell, I like everyone and they all like me.”
Estrada is majoring in Spanish and hopes to teach at a high school in the U.S. someday.
“My dream is to go to a university for a year and have a career and move forward,” he said.
Estrada said he will not forget the people who have helped him along this six-year journey por el amor al juego.
“I think that my principle feeling is gratefulness to the Rivas’ and Godoys,” he said. “A lot of people have helped support me, including my coaches at Eastlake and Southwestern. It is thanks to them that I am here.”