Written by Aeryn McMurtry
Diego Meneses is a 21 year old senior from Guatemala City, Guatemala. He pitches for the RC Baseball team, and has every year since he was a freshman. He says that he is excited for the upcoming season, and believes that the team is “ready to take on any team that wants to come play us.”
He also said that one of the main motivating factors for himself as well as the rest of the team is the National Championship.
“As a team we have a lot of freshmen, but they have been able to understand how our style of play is and that has helped us grow as a team. The chemistry on this team is great also, and that’s one of the things I like the most and why I believe we are going to be successful,” Meneses said.
Meneses is the only pitcher that has been on the team for all four years, so he says that one of his roles is to help the younger players. Specifically thinking about the freshmen, he said that is just trying to be a mentor and motivate his teammates to work hard.
During the off-season, Meneses plays for the Guatemala national baseball team and he says that it really helps him become a better player, because the team is made up of both college and professional players.
This past December, the team played at the Central American Games in Nicaragua. It was an Olympic qualifier, and the team won bronze.
“It was really cool to represent my country and it is something that I will always be very proud of,” said Meneses. The next tournament will be in July for the Central and Caribbean games.
When Meneses isn’t on the field, he says that one of his favorite things to do in Salem is go to Mac & Bob’s for Wing Night. He enjoys reading in his downtime. He is a Political Science major and a Communications minor, and he says that his favorite professors are Dr. Parsons and Dr. Chapman. Meneses is also a Resident Advisor in Marion.
Meneses and the rest of the RC baseball team have a game on Friday the Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. against Cortland as well as a double header on Saturday Feb. 24 at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. against Dickinson.
