On the field, Gavin Vallez directs his pitchers and infielders on certain scenarios, a byproduct of being a catcher. Off the field, Vallez takes charge at school and in the studio. The Live Oak High junior—he’s the class president of the junior class and has already been selected to be the president again for the 2018-2019 school year—carries a 4.3 GPA and constantly writes rap songs for himself and other small recording labels.
“I do as much as I can to keep myself busy,” said Vallez, who entered the week hitting around .350 for an Acorns team that was 2-3 in the Blossom Valley League’s Mount Hamilton Division.
Vallez has started every game for Live Oak since the 2016 season, Vallez’s freshman season. Acorns coach Matt Brotherton joked earlier in the season that he wouldn’t know what to do should Vallez go down, because Vallez has been reliable as the sunrise in terms of being behind the dish.
Vallez has come a long way, especially offensively. In half the games Vallez caught as a freshman, he was substituted for in the lineup via a designated hitter.
“I wasn’t strong enough and often got overpowered,” he said. “But last year was a good confidence booster. I improved my average and got more confident with my swing in general.”
Defensively, Vallez also made inroads, as he kept more balls in front of him and started developing into a bona-fide leader.
“I’m definitely confident in everything I call and talking to my pitchers a lot,” he said. “Before the season started, my goal was to take more of a leadership role because the catcher talks and is a leader by the nature of the position.”
Vallez first started playing baseball at age 4 before trying the catcher position at 7.
“The only reason I was put there was probably because I was one of the chubbier kids on the team,” he said. “But there was something about having all that gear on that made it feel unique. I kind of fell in love with being out there and being able to see the entire field and talk with the umpires.”
Vallez has been his grade’s class president since his freshman year, a testament to his people skills and his intentionality to take the time to build relationships not just with his fellow students but the Live Oak faculty as well.
“I try to reach as many different social circles as I can,” he said. “I feel if I’m able to expand in all areas a little bit, I can connect with a lot more people. I have respect for every teacher and student, and I think they understand I have their back and hopefully they have mine.”
Vallez started acting in a children’s theatre at 6 and in the last several years has worked with Jake Godfrey, or Illustrious, whose album, Baptized by Fire, was released on Feb. 2.
Vallez said he also stays in music because of his cousin, Louie Andrade, who started a small record label out of Gilroy called Ghosts of IO Records. Illustrious and Vallez are part of the label. Vallez can and often does write music whenever he has free time.
“I inspire myself to write music based on the fact I’m kind of an underdog story,” he said.
Whether he’s throwing out runners trying to steal base, writing a song or acing a test, Vallez has no problem producing a sweet moment in all of his endeavors.
