{"id":12498,"date":"2012-04-30T08:17:36","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T12:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=12498"},"modified":"2012-05-09T12:21:17","modified_gmt":"2012-05-09T16:21:17","slug":"miami-kids-give-emu-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/miami-kids-give-emu-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Kids Give EMU Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Courtesy Daily News Record, April 9, 2012<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Justin and Chris Rodriguez get it all the time: \u201cAre you guy\u2019s brothers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, two Miami kids with the same last name and the same Cuban heritage who played at the same high school and are now on the same college baseball team more than 1,000 miles away from home must be related.<\/p>\n<p>Nope.<\/p>\n<p>But they do have this in common: The two freshmen are hammering baseballs for Eastern Mennonite University this season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy assistant and I were talking the other week,\u201d coach Jason Stuhlmiller said, \u201cand we said, \u2018We wish we had eight other Rodr\u00edguezes\u2019. Just a team of Rodr\u00edguezes\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Justin, a 6-foot-1 third baseman with an angular jaw and sienna brown hair formed into a faux-hawk, leads the Royals (10-19) with a .412 batting average, four home runs and 38 RBIs through 29 games as EMU heads into the final two weeks of the regular season. Chris, a 5-foot-7 outfielder with a rounder face and short, black hair, is hitting .393 with less power but plenty of pop. Justin bats right; Chris bats lefty. Justin hits third in the order, Chris leads off. Justin wears No. 25; Chris dons No. 6.<\/p>\n<p>But again, for every difference, there\u2019s a similarity.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ll work anybody under the table,\u201d Stuhlmiller said. \u201cThey\u2019re the hardest working kids in the weight room, on the field, off the field. That\u2019s the kind of kid that we\u2019re after in recruiting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stuhlmiller, in his first season as EMU\u2019s head coach, has a connection with a recruiting agency in Miami, which is how he learned of the Rodr\u00edguezes\u2019, who both attended powerhouse Pace High School in Miramar, Fla.<\/p>\n<p>Under coach Tom Duffin, 78 of 82 seniors to come through Pace have played collegiately or professionally. The team has been ranked No. 1 in the nation, and has featured players such as Washington Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez and first baseman Chris Marrerro, the Nats\u2019 first round selection in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly there were scouts watching the Rodr\u00edguezes\u2019 play at Pace, but somehow, \u201cboth were flying under the radar as far as recruiting,\u201d Duffin said.<\/p>\n<p>Neither received an offer to play at a Division I school. Justin said he probably could have walked on at Division II Barry University or St. Thomas University of the NAIA, \u201cbut here was a school that actually wanted me,\u201d he said of Division III EMU. \u201cAnd I really wanted to go somewhere that really wanted me and where I would play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They didn\u2019t make the decision jointly, but the mutual interest helped both Justin and Chris choose to leave glitzy Miami for the tranquil Shenandoah Valley.<\/p>\n<p>Duffin says it\u2019s usually difficult for Miami kids to leave home. For one, Latin families are typically very tight-knit, and family-oriented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMommy spoils them,\u201d Duffin said, admitting that he\u2019s generalizing. \u201cMommy wants them to stay home. \u2026Going to the Virginia area \u2013 it\u2019s tough. It\u2019s a culture shock. \u2026Not every kid can adjust to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Justin and Chris took the chance and traded their swimsuits for hiking boots. Each said he\u2019s happy now, and for a similar reason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a lot different from Miami,\u201d said Chris, a biology major and aspiring dentist. \u201cQuiet and stuff. \u2026At first, it was hard to get used to it, but it\u2019s good, especially for school. Because it\u2019s calmer than Miami. Not as much going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very different from Miami,\u201d Justin echoed. \u201cI get to concentrate more on my studies. It\u2019s a friendly atmosphere; I guess you could say, I like it here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course, it isn\u2019t as hard to enjoy yourself when you\u2019re rapping the ball like the Rodr\u00edguezes\u2019. Prior to a 6-5 loss at Washington &amp; Lee on Wednesday, Chris had gone 16-for-26 (.615) in the previous five games, picking up multiple hits in each.<\/p>\n<p>Justin, meanwhile has had multiple hits in each of his last seven games, going 16pfor-33 (.485) including all four of his home runs as well as 12 RBIs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust practicing and sticking with my swing,\u201d Justin said is the reason behind his hot streak. \u201cI think my mental aspect is most of it. I feel confident up there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two players show up one and half hours before games to hone their swings by thumping balls off batting tees, according to Stuhlmiller. They, along with sophomore catcher Jonathan Estrada (from Doral, Fla.) and freshman outfielder Bryan Melendez (Lansdale, Pa.), form what the Royals call \u201cThe Hispanic Connection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stuhlmiller, who also has a connection with Doral Academy, hopes to keep tapping the Miami area for overlooked talent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe game experience that they have \u2013 you can definitely tell in the way they play ball,\u201d he said. \u201cPolished is probably the word, but it\u2019s also that they know the game of baseball. \u2026They just know how to play the game correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Courtesy Daily News Record, April 9, 2012 Justin and Chris Rodriguez get it all the time: \u201cAre you guy\u2019s brothers?\u201d Naturally, two Miami kids with the same last name and <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/miami-kids-give-emu-life\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Miami Kids Give EMU Life<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":12548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4516,5176],"tags":[7946,14132,14271,14125,14130],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-12498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","category-baseball","tag-baseball","tag-chris-rodriguez","tag-doral-academy","tag-jonathan-estrada","tag-justin-rodriguez"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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