Paraclete athletes take the next step
Three Paraclete athletes sign Letters of Intent
LANCASTER — Three Paraclete athletes signed their National Letters of Intent to play three different sports at three different colleges in November.
Softball player Aspen Frey signed with NCAA Division 1 Idaho State, while golfer Kris Stiles signed with NCAA Division 1 San Jose State and baseball player Ethan Rosario signed with NCAA Division 3 Whitworth University.
Frey said it was fun to sign with Stiles and Rosario.
“I’m pretty good friends with both of them,” she said.
The three athletes all had different paths to their respective colleges. ASPEN FREY, Idaho State, Softball
When it came to choosing which college to attend, coaching staff was important to Frey.
She was in contact with the coaches at Whitworth University, the same school Rosario will attend, but lost contact with them for about a year. Then, she picked up with them again this summer and they were now at Idaho State.
“They were just super good coaches, super welcoming and easy to talk to,” Frey said. “My family has a good relationship with them, my parents and everything. They can call them and text them whenever. So, we kind of followed the coaches in a way because they were such good coaches. That was definitely the No. 1 thing.”
Another factor in choosing Idaho State was the fact that Frey knew the other six recruits, all from California. She played with most of them. One is on her current travel ball team, Firecrackers Hagberg, one played with her team before moving to another program where two other recruits play, and the other two recruits Frey played with on SoCal 3D.
“I knew a bunch of the recruits who are going there also, so I’m going to room with a couple of them and I played with like all of them,” she said. “So, that’s another big thing is the players, the other recruits are super awesome.”
Frey plans on majoring in nursing, or biology, which she was pleased were both available at Idaho
State.
“With softball, it’s hard to do nursing at a D1 school, so I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to juggle those, but we’ll see,” Frey said. “Probably nursing, but maybe biology.”
Frey will play outfield for the Bengals. “Aspen is a quick and strong natural lefty outfielder that can slap but also has a great power swing,” Idaho State coach Cristal Brown said in
a press release. “More than her athleticism, she is outgoing and is a tone setter with her personality.”
Frey said she would like to thank her mom Breezy Cadena, stepdad Clint Cadena, dad Jason Frey and his girlfriend Michelle Jackson, as well as her siblings, coaches and friends for helping her get this opportunity.
Playing Division 1 softball always been a dream for her.
“I think it’s super awesome. I’ve wanted to play D1 ball since I started,” she said. “I played eight years of baseball and then I played probably about five years of softball, but I’ve always wanted to play D1 ball. I had a lot of other D2 and D3 schools, but D1 was definitely my No. 1 choice and I was able to go, so I’m super excited to be able to do that.”
She also said she’s hoping for a fun senior season with the Paraclete softball team. has
KRIS STILES, San Jose State, Men’s Golf
When Stiles was a sophomore, he committed to play golf at Alabama State. But a recent coaching change had him changing his mind about the Hornets.
Stiles decommitted and found another home at San Jose State.
“I chose to go to San Jose State because it’s a good program and it fits with my major, which is business and finance and it’s in Silicon Valley, so it should be a good fit if golf doesn’t turn out professionally for me,” he said.
Stiles said he took an unofficial visit on Nov. 2 and liked what he saw.
“I met most of the team. A couple of guys weren’t there, but they’re all cool,” he said.
He also liked the coach, John Kennaday, who has coached at San Jose State for 14 years and was an
All-American golfer there as a senior in 1987. He also played professionally on the Canadian PGA, Nike and Golden State tours for seven-plus years.
“Really good guy, very motivating, inspirational,” Stiles said about Kennaday.
With the switch, Stiles gets to stay closer to his family, dad Ken, mom Latreace and sister Ashlie. “That’s always better,” he said. Stiles transferred to Paraclete as a junior. Before that he spent a year at Bishop Alemany and a year at Highland.
“I wanted to go to Paraclete my freshman year, but I ended up going to Bishop Alemany and then that was kind of far, so I ended up at Highland my sophomore year,” he said. “The environment wasn’t something that I wanted to be in to set myself up to be a successful person in the future.”
He has been excelling academically and athletically with the Spirits. He posted a 3.83 grade-point average in his first semester of his senior year and won the Gold Coast League championship last season after sitting out half the season because of transfer rules.
“It was kind of a new experience to sit out and I got to see what competition I was going to be coming into for the next half of the season,” he said. “I think that kind of prepared me even better.”
Stiles is excited about the Spirits’ upcoming season.
“We have a chance of having a better team this year,” he said. “We have an incoming freshman girl that’s pretty good.”
The Spartans are also excited to have Stiles join their program next year.
“Kris was a little bit off the radar recently because of some injuries he’s had,” Kennaday said in a press release. “He still has a very extensive résumé in junior golf. He will bring big time energy and talent to the team.”
Stiles said he was thankful to his mom, dad, sister and golf coach Marshall Patterson for their support throughout his golfing career. He hopes to play professionally after college.
ETHAN ROSARIO, Whitworth University, Baseball
When Rosario was choosing his home for the next four years he was looking at Grand Canyon University in Arizona, Willamette University in Oregon and Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.
When he visited Whitworth, the other two schools disappeared from his mind.
“I felt it right away,” Rosario said. “The school was great, just the way they made me feel welcome there. I got to know the guys and I kind of felt a bond right away. It’s a beautiful school.”
Rosario also liked the coach, CJ Perry, who was selected as the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year in just his second season as head coach last year. The Pirates won the conference title with a 19-5 record.
“He was really nice,” Rosario said. “He’s a young guy in only his second year.”
Rosario said he’ll probably play somewhere in the middle infield for the Pirates.
“We are more than excited to welcome Ethan to the Whitworth baseball program,” Perry said. “On the field, he plays with a high motor. His energy is infectious. He moves very well laterally and is athletic enough to stay in the middle infield at the college level. Off the field, he brings a high level of (discipline) and a work ethic that will better those around him. The combination of Ethan’s character, academic background and athletic skill set make him an asset to this baseball program. We are lucky to have him.”
Rosario said he was thankful to his parents, Sandra and Alex Rosario, girlfriend Ashley Roque and baseball coaches Greg Burnias (Paraclete) and Rick Allen (Hit Factory), who is also the West Coast scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But, most importantly, he is thankful to his older brother Eddie, who had a heart transplant.
“Huge (inspiration),” Rosario said of his brother. “He’s been in a lot of life and death situations. We’re very close. He’s been my role model throughout this whole process.”
Rosario will be the first in his family to leave home, but he feels like he’s ready for it.
“It’s gonna be a new experience, but I think I’m ready for it,” he said. “It’s kind of been a thing since I was younger to kind of get out of the house. Being far away, I think it’s a challenge that I’m ready to take.”
Before he leaves, however, he has one more season with the Spirits.
“We’re going to be great,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, but we have a young team, which is going to be new. I’m excited to get started. It’s going to be different without Joey (Estes). It’s gonna be a little bit new this year.”
Rosario plans on studying kinesiology at Whitworth to one day become a sports trainer.
He’s excited for all of the new experiences ahead of him.
“I’m appreciative of the opportunity to play college baseball,” Rosario said. “I’m really excited.”