“This has to be yours,” Sara Aroz recalls telling her son Anson. Having played baseball since the early days of T-ball, Anson was assured by his parents that he didn’t have to keep going if he didn’t want to.
But he did. And he has.
Now, Aroz finds himself joining an Oregon baseball program that recently entered the national conversation for the first time in nearly a decade. He’s the No. 2 catching prospect from California according to Perfect Game, and it’s all thanks to the hard work and leadership he has displayed throughout his young career.
It started with the things he had to give up in his childhood. Family functions. Trips with friends. He sacrificed his summer vacations to commit to baseball.
His biggest year of growth as a player was around age 12, Sara said. The kickstart of his baseball journey, to which he had taken the reins.
“That’s when we knew that he was really committed, and he could actually run his own show at that point and say which direction he wanted to go,” she said. “And then we were just along for the ride.”
He attended Placer High School in Auburn, California, where he hit .284 as a freshman. Then .361 with a .944 OPS as a sophomore.
“First guy at the field, last guy to leave,” Dave Thompson, Aroz’s high school baseball and basketball coach, said. “Always coming by: ‘Can I get the key to the cage, can I do this, can I do that?’”
Years ago, scouts from Sacramento State came to watch one of Thompson’s pitchers. When Thompson asked them what they thought of the pitcher after the game, they said it was the catcher who actually caught their attention because of how he ran his sprints. Thompson told Aroz this story one day. Ever since then, Aroz always sprints when moving on the field.
“He’s one of those guys that plays with his hair on fire,” Thompson said.
Aroz’s strong play and work ethic led him to be named captain of the team his senior year. Due to COVID-19, they had to play local Division 1 schools that year even though they were a Division 3 school. Aroz hit a blistering .515 with a massive 1.315 OPS.
Amidst the dominance, he never lost sight of his leadership values, picking up his teammates and motivating them when they were feeling down.
“Leadership is setting an example,” Aroz’s senior captain quote read. “Running at the front of the pack with a banner rather than pushing from behind with a whip. The impact of one’s positive actions resonates longer than words.”
His dominance on the field quickly opened eyes, and he received several offers from great college programs. One of the first phone calls was from Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski.
Aroz eventually took a trip up to Oregon to meet the coaching staff and see the facilities. With rivers, lakes and outdoor activities, Eugene was reminiscent of Aroz’s hometown, Auburn. It was that trip which secured his decision, Sara said. Wasikowski and hitting coach Jack Marder wanted Aroz to be part of the rebuild of the program.
“He just liked everything about their coaching philosophy and where they saw the school going,” Sara said. “Anson being a catcher and Marder being a catcher, they could really speak the same language.”
As Aroz has built himself into a legitimate baseball prospect, his parents have made sure to keep an open line of communication. The journey hasn’t come without doubts for Sara, but she’s always made sure her son is pursuing this dream on his own accord.
“As a parent, you just want the best for your kiddo,” Sara said. “There’s always going to be quiet moments in the day where you’re worried of making the right decisions and if you’re helping enough, doing enough, if he’s doing too much. I think that that was one thing as a parent that I struggled with: Is this kid gonna burn out? Is he doing too much?”
In these moments, she would “slow the train down” and tell her son to communicate with her.
At Oregon, Aroz joins a tight catcher competition –– but one that he should be right in the middle of. Wasikowski called him an “exciting young talent” in Tuesday’s preseason press conference. Along with his high rankings and leadership qualities, he brings two unique skills to the table: his switch-hitting and his athleticism.
“I wasn’t crazy about it at first, but he’s kind of proved me wrong,” Thompson said of Aroz’s switch-hitting.
His Perfect Game scouting report notes his swing as being choppier from the left side, a flaw Thompson agrees with. But there’s hand quickness from both sides that has allowed him to come into his own as a switch-hitter.
In the field, Aroz is extraordinarily agile and athletic for a catcher. He has the ability to play second base and outfield, which could come in handy if someone else takes over the starting catching job. He even played point guard on his high school basketball team.
Aroz was also one of six Oregon baseball players on the dean’s list for fall term. Sara thinks his excellence in the classroom is relevant to his catching duties, since he’s always studying by watching aspects of the game. He does all the learning and listening required to meet his goals.
“If he decides, ‘I’m going to try to work to be the No. 1 catcher in the state, or in the nation, or win the spot at Oregon,’ once he calls himself out on that, he usually goes for it,” Sara said.
For now though, it’s one step at a time. The season is quickly approaching with less than a month remaining until the first game. While Aroz’s hard work is the primary reason he’s gotten this far, he still likes to have some fun, too.
“I just hope that he’s enjoying his first year of college,” Sara said. “I mean, you don’t get to do this twice. You go and enjoy every bit of it: the work, the fun, the education, all of it.”
Above all, she’s just a mom hoping for the best for her son.
“He’s an excellent dancer,” she joked before saying, “He’s a really nice person. I’m really proud of him, and I think that he’s super fun to be around. We miss him a ton.”
