SAN MARCOS- After last season, eight players from the Palomar College Baseball team were nominated to the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Academic All-State Team for their hard work and dedication on the field.
Noah Lazuka, an infielder for the Comets described how his passion for baseball began when he was 5 years old. Lazuka said, “My parents really got me into it and met some really cool friends.”
Throughout Lazuka’s career, he has been able to stay motivated by learning from his mistakes. Lazuka said, “There is always ups and downs throughout your career, definitely the successes and learning from my failures so keeping a good state of mind, staying positive, and keeping confidence.”
After receiving the nomination, Lazuka was proud of himself for having a successful season last year. Lazuka said, “It’s a really cool nomination and achievement that I have been rewarded with and there is nothing like having a good season getting awarded for it.”
During the season, Lazuka stated how difficult playing baseball along with going to school has impacted his life. Lazuka said, “It’s really tough, I mean we are at the field seven hours a day so having to go home and do homework and go to the gym to take care of my body it’s a really hard thing to do.” Throughout his challenge, he has been able to focus on what’s more important to help stay encouraged and motivated to be positive.
Another player for the Comets, Patrick McLellan, expressed how much receiving the nomination meant to him. McLellean said, “It was cool, a lot of support throughout the program so it was more of a team thing than just myself.”
Throughout the season, McLellan described how challenging having school and playing baseball has significantly drained his energy. McLellan said, “It’s really tough, two full-time jobs at once so it’s not easy.”
For this next season, McLellan is looking forward to building relationships with his teammates and playing in the championship. He said “Just being out here again, I love everyone out here so just being out here and being able to playing with these guys.”
Assistant Coach Chase Grant, described McLellan and Lazuka as hard working and determined. Grant said, “Being around them and being close to them, they are great kids, they want to win, they want to work hard, and they have the mentality that we want here as coaches.”
Grant explained how the end of last season was difficult on the team but a learning curve for the players. He said, “We were upset in the playoffs, I think what that’s gonna do though is going to fuel us for this year and I think a lot of these guys were on the team last year they have that inner drive in them knowing that we were such a great team and it obviously didn’t go through how we wanted it but this year, they are really driven and looking forward to redeem themselves.”
