By
Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Torres beats slump, finds pride in heritage
UA third baseman Erik Torres has been out of high school for four years now, but his influence at his alma mater continues.
Now in his final season at UA, Torres continues to help Sunnyside High School players realize their full potential, not only as baseball players, but also as people.
Torres, 22, attended Sunnyside High School from 1994-1997, earning four letters as a third baseman for the Blue Devils.
"I said that once I grew up - and hopefully became a Wildcat - I would give back to my community and especially help my high school," he said.
When the UA baseball team has a day off, Torres goes back to the south-side campus and helps the team.
"I go back to (Sunnyside) and hit ground balls and try to make motivational speeches and try to be a role model," he said. "When I was in high school, guys like Omar Moraga, Diego Rico and George (Arias) did it for us when they were at the UA."
Already, Torres' generosity has made a difference.
A year ago, he tutored Sunnyside alum - and UA freshman infielder - Moises Duran.
"Last year, he talked to me a lot because UA was (trying to recruit me) and so were other schools," Duran said. "That was one of the reasons that I came (to UA) because he was telling me how UA was a great place to play, and it is."
Duran said he considers Torres and two other Sunnyside graduates who went on to play at UA role models.
"Before (Erik), it was Omar Moraga and Diego Rico, and I looked at all them as role models," Duran said. "Since they all made it here, I saw myself like them, and I considered myself one of them."
Torres said he values his relationship with the freshman and was glad to give Duran advice, such as academic information and which dorms to live in, during his recruiting visit to UA last spring.
"Hopefully, I influenced him and showed him what UA has to offer," said Torres, who was the host for Duran during his recruiting visit.
Decision Time
At Sunnyside, Torres was a star.
A 6-foot, 175-pound third baseman, Torres was listed as one of the nation's top 50 prospects as a senior in high school. In his final season as a Blue Devil, he hit .500 and faced a tough choice: enter the Major League Baseball draft or go to college.
For Torres, the decision was already made.
"I talked to some scouts in high school and they were interested, but I wanted to get my college degree first," he said. "I told them right off the bat that I wanted to go to college and I wanted to mature. I told (the scouts) that I wanted to get a college degree, and that is something that is not common in most kids."
Coming from a baseball family, Torres always had someone to turn to.
Erik's father, Jose, was a pitcher and first baseman in the Mexican leagues, while his older brother, Danny, played at College of the Southwest in Hobbs, N.M.
"My mom and dad left the decision (on whether to enter the major league draft) up to me because they didn't want to put any pressure on me," Torres said. "I decided to come to the UA because I wanted to become a student and I wanted to graduate."
Torres said he wanted to stay close to home and play at UA, but he was worried because the Wildcats didn't express great interest him right away.
"UA was my first option, but at one point I was getting kind of scared because I was hearing from other schools, but I was not hearing from the UA," Torres said. "Once I heard from them, I called it quits at the other schools. I knew they were going to come through."
Torres also said he wanted to play baseball at UA because the school has developed a strong tradition in recruiting Latino players from the Tucson area.
On this season's roster, Torres, Duran and senior first baseman Ernie Durazo are all Latino.
Torres said keeping his identity as a Mexican-American is important to him as an athlete. In Tucson, a city with a large Latino population, Torres hopes to become a role model for young Hispanic players.
"I still want to keep my roots and who I am," he said. "That is who I am. I'm Mexican-American. That's what I grew up."
In the UA baseball program, each player is allowed to pick a song to be played when they come to bat.
While most players pick a popular rock or hip-hop song, Torres' choice is simple. In homage to his Hispanic roots, the senior has chosen a popular Latin song.
"The song that I play is called El Matador because the matador is the attacker, and that's what I want to be," he said. "I want to be the one on the field who wants the ball on the line. I want that pressure."
Struggles on the Field
Despite high expectations coming out of high school, Torres struggled in his first two seasons as a Wildcat. As a junior last year, it just got worse.
Torres hit a rough spot. He couldn't hit, he couldn't field. He was benched at one point and lost all of his confidence.
"Sometimes, I felt like I didn't belong in this game," he said.
With his confidence gone, Torres was suffering through the worst slump in his career.
"Last year was just my worst moment of my career, and there was a time when I just struggled offensively and defensively for about 2-3 weeks," Torres said. "I couldn't deal with that. I couldn't deal with not succeeding. I felt I was down and went into a hole and couldn't get out of it."
To get through the slump, Torres talked to one of the people who knows him best - his coach.
"He just needed to play Erik Torres baseball and not try to play like Ken Caminiti or Brooks Robinson - third baseman-type guys," UA head coach Jerry Stitt said.
Sure enough, Torres tore out of his slump in the second half of last year, belting three home runs against Washington April 8.
A year later, the senior's hot streak continues.
Off to a torrid start in 2001, Torres is second on the Wildcats, with a .376 batting average.
Defensively, he has shown more confidence and range than in previous seasons.
"I feel I have done my job," Torres said. "However, I still feel I can compete a little better every pitch in every game. There are still times where I lose focus, and just by maturing, I think I can get to this focus, where last year, I couldn't get to that focus."
Only six credits short of graduating in May, the senior's academic dreams will materialize either in summer school or the fall semester.
If a career as a professional baseball player doesn't work out for Torres after the season, he said he would like a career in law enforcement and eventually end up with the FBI.
"All I can do now is take it day by day," he said. "That's all I can live by."
