The 2024 baseball season is here and I was able to get to interview one of our Santaluces Chiefs baseball players, C/O 24, Keaton Kangas who has made a name for himself in the history of Chiefs baseball.
To most people, baseball is just a sport and nothing more than that but to Keaton, baseball is his world. He expresses his feelings of how when he plays baseball he feels great and alive, that the feeling of running through bases and being able to hit the ball is an amazing feeling that he enjoys. The happiness he experiences from it, no other thing or sport can provide it to him.
Keaton’s understanding of the game has allowed him to quickly rise to the ranks rapidly becoming a star figure to the team. When asked what was his motivation to get to where he is in baseball, he stated, ” Everyone in my family had played it and I wanted to be the first out of them to make it to a Division 1 college to play baseball and end up making it pro,” revealing his deeply rooted motivation for the game while also showing his urge to keep the family tradition alive.
Finally, his hard work has shown to pay off. Keaton soon began to experience the privilege of being scouted by college scouts and was determined to leave a good impression on them. He landed offers from multiple colleges in which he soon decided that the right place for him was Florida Gulf Coast University. Becoming one of the many few from Santaluces to become a D1 commitment.
With all the pressure on Keaton, he lets it be known that he gets his strength from his faith in which he recites two verses, Philippians 4:13 and John 13:7, to keep him going through all the challenges that he experiences.
With this being Keaton’s Senior year, meaning the last baseball season of his high school career, there are mutual feelings about it. Keaton said, “It’s a mix of happy and sad. I’m happy that it’s my Senior season and year but I’m sad that it’s all going to be over soon.” Nonetheless, he emphasized that before the end of his journey as a Chief, he still has a final mission left to accomplish: to win the district championship.
In the final moments of the interview, Keaton says that he has no regrets throughout the years but just wishes that he had truly cherished every moment of the time he had. As the season progresses, we look forward to seeing Keaton Kangas’s success and are rooting for him in the next chapter of life as a commit for Florida Gulf Coast University.
