K.J Flores '21 Recruiting Profile

    From the time I can remember, baseball has been part of my life.  I feel like it wasn’t something that I chose, but something I was destined to do. Playing baseball has allowed me to define who I am. It has allowed me to learn how to persevere through different challenges, whether it’s been in baseball, peer pressure or life in general. It challenges me to manage my time better than anyone else, which is one of the many advantages I feel being a student-athlete has given me.

    One of my biggest goals in high school, is to maintain my good work ethics and hope it translates into my college years. These ethics can help me be the best student athlete I can possibly be, for myself, and my future teammates. I have noticed that when I focus on being the best student I can be, I tend to come in on top of my classes, which is what has always been my ultimate goal.

    Looking back, my sophomore year was an emotional roller coaster on and off the field. My homework load increased, and in baseball, I was the only sophomore on varsity, so a lot of things were expected of me on the field. I was one of the youngest and it always felt like all eyes were on me.  The season was one of the toughest years, I’ve ever encountered in my baseball years, and as I reminisce, I can see how much I have grown from the experiences. I learned the need to not always feel down on yourself, during your toughest times because they do not last forever. It is like the saying when your at the bottom there’s no way else for but up.  This mentality will always make you work twice, as hard because you don’t want those hard times to happen again. This really caused me to question whether I can do it, or not but it helped me to double down on my belief in myself, and the level that I can produce at on the field.

    With this in mind, my best characteristics are my discipline, and being optimistic. Optimism helps me to always be one of the best teammates possible. I’m always a guy that will lighten up the locker room when the team is going through a tough time, or there is a high pressured game or when we received the result we didn’t want in a game.

    The discipline my family has instilled in me allows me to keep my hard work-ethic because I’ll always doing something, whether that is running, going to the gym, or swinging in the cages. I feel that hard work can be contagious, it sets the ultimate example for teammates and my future self.