Hinojosa's winding path takes him to Texas A&M

Joaquin Hinojosa probably should have given up baseball already.

He's been jilted by a Big 12 school and had to play thousands of miles from home just for the possibility of maybe, sort of, kind of, getting a chance to play major college baseball. At some point, after hearing his story, you'd think the kid should have just quit and moved on with his life. Most people probably would have done that.

Hinojosa, who graduated from McAllen High in 2007, has had opportunities and reasons to quit but hasn't. Currently, he's playing summer ball for the Brazos Valley Bombers and will finally play Division-I next season at Texas A&M.

But the path there was maybe a little bit cruel. It has taken him to far Northeastern California, then far Northeastern Texas and then to College Station. Apart from just the number of miles Hinojosa has traveled, he did much of it banking on what turned out to be false hope and has been connected to four schools and attended three.

"A lot of people say it's tough. Being away from home is probably the biggest thing for me," Hinojosa said. "All I had was God and faith and everything He was going to put me through was the right thing and the right path I was going through."

But though it might turn out to be the right path, it certainly has been a long one.

After graduating from McHi, Hinojosa was told by the coaching staff at Texas Tech they planned to bring him to Lubbock after one year of seasoning at the junior college level at Lassen Community College in Susanville, Calif. But, after that season, Hinojosa was told he wasn't needed, and if he wanted to play major college baseball he'd have to find another way.

Or, he could just quit. But that was something longtime girlfriend Priscilla Ruiz didn't think he should do. And though Hinojosa said he would be "lost" without baseball, he did think of giving up.

Ruiz disagreed, and encouraged him to keep going.

"I was like, ‘It's done. It's over.' And then, my girlfriend, she's the one that helped me out," Hinojosa said. "She said, ‘You need to keep on going. You've still got potential.' She helped me keep my confidence."

Thanks partly to Ruiz's encouragement, Hinojosa contacted the coaching staff at Texas A&M, and eventually signed to play his sophomore year for Texarkana College. Once there, Hinojosa hit .403 with 11 home runs and 60 RBI as an outfielder. Hinojosa also closed, going 6-2 and saving three games, earning a scholarship to play with the Aggies.

And Hinojosa certainly wasn't the only one happy about that.

"I think that's so exciting for him," said Ruiz, who helped Hinojosa write the e-mail he sent to Aggies coach Rob Childress that led to him getting on A&M's radar. "I feel very happy for him because this is what he's been working for. I've always believed he can play on that team.

"I feel like everything keeps falling into place. We prayed about it and now it's finally happening. We're very grateful for it."

Brian Sandalow covers sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.