Nothing lost in the translation

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | 9:39 a.m.

Two years ago, Humberto Rodarte arrived at Desert Pines High School as a Mexican immigrant who spoke no English but knew all about America's pastime.

Now, Rodarte is one of the valley's top hitters, going 22-for-38 at the plate this season after starting the year hitting .750.

Rodarte's a shy slugger, honest about his ability but cautious in his choice of words in a language that is still somewhat foreign to him.

When he came to Las Vegas from Mexico City, Rodarte had already been playing competitive baseball for five seasons.

"It's like the all-stars from one city, play with other cities," Rodarte said at one of the Jaguars' recent afternoon practices.

And was he hitting this well against his all-star counterparts?

"Yes," he said without hesitation.

Desert Pines coach Clint Huggins knew he had a talented player when Rodarte first showed up at practice.

"As a sophomore, I would have called him a good hitter," Huggins said. "As a junior, I called him a great hitter. As a senior, I'm calling him a phenomenal hitter."

Huggins doesn't take credit for his star's development into such a strong hitter, instead saying time and work in the weight room simply helped improve Rodarte's numbers.

But while Rodarte was quiet about his game, Huggins was doing everything short of putting up a billboard to tout his shortstop.

"He said he had this terrific player that he thought would be a good college ball player," recalled D.J. Whittemore, baseball coach at Western Nevada Community College in Carson City.

Whittemore was in Las Vegas last September to recruit for WNCC's inaugural team, which will begin play this fall. He didn't get a chance to see Rodarte play, but knew where he could find unbiased opinions of Rodarte's talent.

Eldorado coach Jesse Medellin provided one eyewitness account to what Rodarte could do to Northeast Division pitchers. Las Vegas' Sam Thomas' assessment was the same.

The verdict?

"I actually offered him a scholarship without ever seeing him play," Whittemore said. "I had him come to a tryout in December and he definitely made me happy we'd offered."

Whittemore credited Rodarte's background as a key reason for his success.

"He's just got good baseball instincts," he said. "People get overcoached in baseball. He's the type of player, he didn't get overcoached down there."

Defensively, Rodarte plays shortstop if only because he's the best player on the field when the Jaguars play. While Huggins thinks that he's more suited for third base at the college level, Whittemore said he expects Rodarte to be competing with Basic standout Kyle Boundurant at short.

"He's a better defensive player than offensive player," Whittemore said. "His strength there is his arm strength. He's got major college arm strength. He's definitely a true shortstop."

Rodarte's expectations are simple for when he gets to the college level.

"It's going to be a little bit harder," he said. "I go out on the field and do what I can do."