McALLEN — McAllen High senior Noah Villarreal fell in love with baseball the first time he stepped onto a field at age 5. He’s chased the dream of playing college baseball ever since.
His dedication and hard work through the years paid off as Villarreal signed a national letter of intent to play college baseball at UTRGV on Wednesday inside the McAllen High School gym with family, friends, coaches and teammates on hand.
“This is what you dream of as a kid. All the support being here on your signing day, it’s great to see everybody here,” he said.
Villarreal is a three-year letterman entering his fourth season as an outfielder and pitcher with the Bulldogs. He exploded as a junior, leading the team with 40 hits. He also increased his batting average to .430 from .241. He had 33 RBIs, 31 runs scored, five doubles and three triples. On the mound, he finished 4-0 with a 1.73 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 24.1 innings. He also joined the Bulldogs football team his senior year and recorded 27 catches for 220 yards and one touchdown.
Villarreal said he’s always been a frequent attendee at Vaqueros home games and remembers his first trips to see them in action when they were still under the Texas-Pan American name. He said he’s ready to be a part of the new era of college baseball in the Rio Grande Valley.
“I want to wear that Vaqueros name across my chest and represent the Valley and my hometown in any way I can,” he said. “It feels great, but the work doesn’t stop here. I got to keep going, I still have to earn my spot next year. This is just step one of getting to the next level and being able to play.”
McAllen High baseball head coach Eliseo Pompa said Villarreal is talented enough to play all nine positions on the diamond, and is a hard worker in the classroom.
“He knows the game, and for us, that’s great because we don’t have to spend too much time going through situations with him. He’s one of the guys who helps the other guys,” Pompa said of Villarreal’s baseball IQ. “He’s been playing for us since he was a freshman and he’s a very humble kid. He’s talented and he succeeds in whatever classes he takes. We’re looking forward to going and seeing him play (at UTRGV), but we’re also looking forward to finishing his senior year.”
While college baseball is in Villarreal’s future, his current focus is defending the District 31-5A championship.
“We definitely want that repeat, but we know it’s going to take a lot of work,” he said. “We got a lot of dogs in our district like Sharyland (High), (Sharyland) Pioneer, we got (McAllen) Rowe — we got a lot of teams that are going to give us a good fight. We come in here, work every day and got to get better every day so we can beat them.”
