Cool customer brings the heat
Travis graduated four pitchers last season, so coach Rodney Hernandez needed someone to step up on the mound. Trey Faltine answered the call. “He did a great job on the mound,” Hernandez said. “He was a gamer. He finished so strong.”
The super sophomore won four games in the playoffs, helping the Tigers (32-8) make the deepest run in school history, all the way to the Class 6A Region III final, where they lost to eventual state champ Deer Park.
The 6-2 pitcher/outfielder — who plays shortstop for the highly successful Banditos Baseball Club — finished with a perfect 10-0 record in 15 appearances, with a 1.84 ERA, 80 strikeouts and 27 walks in 622⁄3 innings en route to earning the Chronicle’s All-Greater Houston Pitcher of the Year award.
“Everything is nice and cool for him,” Hernandez said. “Nothing frustrates him. If he does have a stressful inning, I can go out there and visit and get him back on track pretty easily, and that’s what it takes sometimes. He’s been on the big stages before, so going this deep was nothing new to him.”
Q: How did you get started with baseball?
A: “My dad was born in Venezuela, and he played all the way through college, and when he came to the States, he stopped playing baseball to start working. But when I was about 3, he started teaching me baseball, throwing the ball around with me and having me hit, so that’s how I got going. Then I started playing tee ball and eventually coach pitch and on to now.”
Q: Did you start pitching as soon as you were old enough?
A: “On the select team I play for, I actually never pitched. I started pitching maybe seventh or eighth grade, but I never really pitched until now. I was always playing with older kids, and everyone threw harder than me, so there was no need for me to pitch. So it wasn’t until a couple years ago that I actually started pitching, really when I got to high school. That’s when I started pitching a lot.”
Q: So is pitching something you really enjoy now?
A: “I love pitching because it’s you and the batter. I like the competition right there. It’s me vs. you, and I’m going to do better than you. It’s that type of feeling.”
Q: How do you feel you performed in your first full varsity season?
A: “Freshman year, I didn’t really get to pitch a lot. We had a lot of seniors last year, and they did fantastic. I didn’t want to mess that up. But this year, coach told me at the beginning of the season that I had a big role to fill pitching-wise, because we lost four seniors, so this year was going to be my year to step up, and I think I did pretty well. I tried to go out there and win every game, not try to do too much and let my team help get wins with our defense.”
Q: How did your experience with the Banditos, including winning multiple national championships, help you in the UIL playoffs?
A: “It prepared me a lot, because when we’re playing in those national championship games, it’s a pressure moment, just like a playoff. The difference is … in the national tournaments, you’re like, ‘OK, we have next weekend if we don’t win this one,’ but playoffs it’s like, ‘This is your only shot. Here it is.’”
Q: Are you satisfied with the team’s run this season?
A: “We did great. I feel like we could have made it to that state championship. But even so, we had a fantastic season, and I still think we were the best team in the state this year.”
Q: Does knowing Deer Park went on to win the 6A title make the last loss better or worse?
A: “It was tough knowing they beat us and went on to win the state championship, but I’d rather lose to the state champion than somebody else.”
Q: You verbally committed to Texas as a freshman. How did you know that was the right decision so early in your high school career?
A: “Ever since I was a little kid, everything’s been UT, UT, UT. I even had my birthday cakes (say) UT, so it’s the school I’ve always wanted to go to, and when they offered me, I felt like that’s the place I want to be. I’ve been to other schools, but I didn’t have the same feeling I had at UT, so I’m really glad I’m going there.”