Big leaguer-turned-broadcaster Victor Rojas was at Blue Bell Park for Texas A&M's super regional victory over the Oregon Ducks last weekend. The play-by-play voice joined TexAgs Radio on Tuesday to look back on his time spent in Aggieland.
Key notes from Victor Rojas interview
- It was awesome. I didn’t know what to expect from College Station, but it was a bigger town than I expected. We live in North Texas, so I had heard all things about it. I thought it was a small college town, but it surprised me. It was fantastic. We had an awesome weekend.
- Texas A&M is a team to be reckoned with in the Men’s College World Series. Coming into the weekend, I thought they were the much more dominant team of the two in College Station, but things happened. You never know what’s going to happen over a long season or in a super regional, and it was unfortunate to see Braden Montgomery go down in the first inning on Saturday. Then you had the injury to Shane Sdao in Game 2. Somehow, someway. Jim Schlossnagle and Jace LaViolette told us on Friday that it’s not about any one guy. It’s about the entire lineup and everybody on that team. They proved that this weekend.
- On the Montgomery play, I was following the baseball, but I could see where Montgomery was in relation to third base. I sensed a little hesitation, whether it was from the third base coach or Montgomery. Once he made the cut to get around the catcher, you knew something was wrong, especially when he tried to stand up and went back down. It wasn’t until I saw the replay that I realized that he tripped himself in the effort to move around the catcher. He clipped himself. He’s out for the year with a serious injury, but clearly, it was an awful injury to a terrific player who is going to be a top-10 pick in the MLB Draft this year, no matter what. You could sense in the ballpark the concern because it was that jarring.
- Montgomery is that much of an impactful player, but I go back to what LaViolette said before the series began. Everyone talks about the top three of the lineup, and they’ve been stellar. But not enough people give enough credit to the guys behind them: Ted Burton, Jackson Appel and Hayden Schott. Those guys had a huge impact. They’re veteran guys and graduate students who have been around and understand the dynamic of a super regional and meeting the moment. They stepped up. LaViolette told us that it sucks to strike out, but good luck with Montgomery. If Montgomery strikes out, good luck with Burton. That was the mentality going into the series, and it proved to be true with guys stepping up.
- The series was interesting. Oregon was a team that could hit the long ball, led by Jacob Walsh, but they also struck out a lot. We didn’t see them strike out much. They knew the mantra from A&M’s pitching perspective in loving to fill up the zone. Oregon took that plan and jumped on pitches early. It worked for them. Their pitching just collapsed.
- There was a decision that Mark Wasikowski could have made on Saturday to keep his pitching staff in check. Had he taken Ryan Featherston out earlier before going to Logan Mercado, he could have saved some runs. Mercado was really good for the rest of the game, but you could put a thumbnail in it. The same thing could be said about Sunday and that seventh inning. Brock Moore was doing fine, but then walks became a concern. A&M only had two hits in that entire inning, both by Kaeden Kent. There were so many walks and a hit batter, but nobody was warming up in the Oregon bullpen. It was a passive mentality on Oregon’s part but credit the Aggie hitters. They make sure they swing at strikes, and they did that. They did not chase outside the zone, and things snowballed.
- In that atmosphere, if you haven’t experienced Blue Bell Park before, it can be overwhelming for a pitcher. It felt like that in that seventh inning. You knew it wasn’t going to go Oregon’s way, and then Kent’s exclamation mark capped it off.
- There is no doubt A&M has a chance to win the national title. You have a front-line starter in Ryan Prager, who is going to bounce back. You have a closer in Evan Aschenbeck, who can go two innings or more. When you have those guys, you can figure out the rest. Don’t forget how good Chris Cortez was on Saturday. He was as good as I’ve ever seen a college pitcher. He was emotional about it, and he’s a much different guy today than he was 365 days ago. They have some positivity rolling into the tournament.
- You get Florida on Saturday. It’s interesting that it’s all SEC and ACC in Omaha. A&M is still a really good team with the second-best odds to win it behind Tennessee. There is nothing like having the confidence and momentum that Kent and those guys do.
- With Kent, I grew up in a big-league household. He grew up in a big-league household. He understands how to bring the game down and low it down.
- I think A&M will be putting itself in a position to win a championship.
- I have been everywhere. I’m a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. My family came from Cuba in the 1960s with everything happening on the island. My dad was already signed in the Reds organization, so his professional career had already started. I was born in Miami but grew up in Kansas City when my dad was playing with the Royals. Baseball has been my entire life, and I’ve loved it from the time I was born. I was fortunate enough to play in college, professionally and coach. Then I got into the front-office side, which is where I thought I wanted to go. At 31 years of age, I decided I wanted to try my hand at broadcasting, and I got lucky. I did two years of independent ball and 18 years in the big leagues. I left a couple of years ago. I had the opportunity to run the Frisco franchise for a couple of years, and now I’m in a limbo, purgatory situation of trying to figure out what I want to do next. I love calling college baseball, and ESPN has given me the opportunity to do so. I’m hooked. I love big league baseball, but college baseball and the “amateur” side are electric. It’s a different animal with unbelievable storylines. You never know when something is going to happen, and that doesn’t happen on a daily basis in the pros. I’m so thankful.
- The hospitality we experienced in College Station this weekend was incredible. I told a buddy of mine that if they ever need somebody to go back there, sign me up. I had so much fun. I even texted Jim Schlossnagle about it. There are good things going on down at A&M, and it’s exciting. A&M is going to be the standard of college baseball.
