Guarding the outfield grass for the Marist baseball team, freshman outfielder Lewis Rodriguez has worked endlessly to stay on the winding path of his baseball career. It’s a path he strives to follow all the way to the big leagues.
Baseball was Rodriguez’s “first love.” With his parents’ strong support, Rodriguez quickly began playing more and more baseball; at one point, he played on three different teams at once. Seemingly one of the better athletes on the field most of his career, he played catcher and pitcher before being put in center field for the first time at around ten years old, the position that he eventually stuck with.
He spent two years at North Rockland High School in Rockland County, New York, before transferring to the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, a college preparatory school in northeast Georgia. He spent his junior and senior years playing there, an experience that he feels helped prepare him for collegiate competition.
“It was a really competitive league,” said Rodriguez. “We played guys that are potentially going to be drafted, guys that are going to big schools.”
Rodriguez had his sights set on playing at the next level long before transferring to Rabun Gap. In his freshman year of high school, one of his coaches brought him and some teammates to Jupiter, Florida, to watch his son play.
“It just motivated me, and I was like, yeah, I’m going to play Division I baseball one day, God willing,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez wasted no time trying to put his name on the radar, speaking to college coaches his freshman year. Throughout his high school career, Rodriguez spoke to many schools that had interest, but there “was never anything really serious.”
That was the case until Marist came into the picture. During his junior year, one of his travel coaches for Canes Tri-State–one of the most well-known and prestigious travel baseball organizations that has produced a long list of MLB players–sent his video to Marist, and they immediately became interested. He attended a camp at Marist and eventually committed to the Red Foxes.
Upon arriving at Marist in August 2023, Rodriguez’s first challenge was the distinct timeline of college baseball, including a long fall and winter before the season began.
“You’ve got to grind your way through, you’ve got to get stronger, faster, try to get the weight up, and be ready for the season because when day one comes, you’ve got to be ready to go,” said Rodriguez.
The long offseason was made even more difficult for Rodriguez, who had to deal with an Achilles issue that sidelined him from practice for three weeks.
“I had to sit out a little bit and see what it was, what was aggravating it, because they wanted me to be healthy,” said Rodriguez.
As the offseason dwindled away, Rodriguez fulfilled his goal of playing Division I baseball when Marist opened their season against Southern Mississippi. A driven competitor, Rodriguez adjusted his sights to his next goal.
“My goal is to have a really good freshman year,” said Rodriguez. “I’m draft eligible next year, so if I can have a good year this year and set myself up for next year, I’d be in a good spot.”
Rodriguez hopes to get drafted as soon as possible but realizes that is not the only option. Many collegiate players looking to get drafted will continue their collegiate career in order to build up a draft résumé. Alas, personal goals are not the only thing in front of mind for Rodriguez.
“My number one [goal] is to win. I want to win with the team. I want to win with my brothers. And I want to win the MAAC championship,” he said.
Rodriguez got off to a quick start this season. He took home MAAC Rookie of the Week honors in his first week of collegiate baseball after going 5-for-14 in the opening series, including two doubles and one RBI.
It has not all been smooth sailing for Rodriguez. The rookie consistently led off the Marist batting order, but has since slid down in the order as a result of a prolonged slump.
Several physical differences make it harder to hit college pitching, which has contributed to some of his struggles. Compared to the competition Rodriguez faced in high school, the pitchers he sees now command more pitches and are willing to throw any pitch in any count, making it harder to feel prepared from pitch to pitch.
“You never know what’s coming. You have an idea, but you always have to be ready for anything,” said Rodriguez.. “You can never for sure sit on the fastball.”
Throughout his transition to college, especially given his more recent struggles, Rodriguez started to focus on the mental side of the game, which he feels is an unappreciated aspect of playing baseball.
Rodriguez has taken up meditation to clear his mind and control his thoughts. He hopes that will take him back to where he was earlier this season, and it may already be working. In an early April doubleheader against Albany, he broke out of his slump in a massive way, going 3-for-6, including a huge grand slam, his fourth home run of the season.
“I think the game is 99% mental,” said Rodriguez. “The 1% is talent, hard work and dedication.”
Rodriguez hopes that his success will continue so he can fulfill his personal goal of being drafted, but more importantly to him, so the team can win.
Edited by Sam Murphy and Dan Aulbach
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo; Photos from Marist Athletics and Jaylen Rizzo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.