Committing to an Ivy League university for the sport you love sounds like every high school student’s dream. For Connor Henriques, this dream became a reality when he committed to Brown University for baseball.
Connor talked about his path to becoming a college athlete, detailing where it all started, “I’ve been playing baseball ever since I could walk. As a very young child, I always had a ball in my hand and by the age of 2 or 3, I started playing T-ball. Baseball has always been my primary sport.”
His story continued as a freshman at Bell: “I knew the athletics here were very competitive and I think originally my primary focus was just to make the freshman team, but college ball has always been my dream.”
To pursue this dream Connor put in lots of work describing that “During the high school season, we practice or play 6 times a week for about 2 hours. During the offseason or Sumer ball, I am in the weight room 4 or 5 days a week. On weekends I always spend an hour each day hitting off the tee or taking ground balls with a teammate. On average, I would say I put in about 7-10 hours per week during the offseason, and about 12 during the season.”
His hard work provided him with choices for colleges. Despite getting an offer from Santa Clara University, Henriques ultimately chose Brown because “having that degree of education while playing baseball seemed almost unreal to me and I thought it would be a great opportunity. Most importantly, on my visit there, the coaches were very excited about the school and the team while showing me around, and I got the feeling they would be very passionate in coaching me over the years. The school was amazing and I really felt like I was home while I was there.”
At the very end of his journey though, Connor credits much of his success to all those around him. He humbly explained that “I could not have accomplished anything without my parents supporting me and taking me where I need to be constantly. I could not have done it without the support of my friends and teammates. Lastly, I definitely could not have done it without my travel coaches and coaches at Bellarmine who have helped me develop into the player I am today. I am incredibly grateful for all the opportunities and support that all these people have offered me and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
By Sam Clark ‘19 and Carlo Jimenez ‘19
