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PG Select Baseball Festival | General | 9/5/2024

Different Perspective In Year 2 for Vargas

Hannah Jo Groves

Photo: Joel Vargas (Perfect Game)

Joel Vargas, the 14-year-old standout from San Diego, California, is a pretty familiar name to all who know the rising stars of youth baseball.

As the nationally ranked No. 5 player, Vargas’s stats speak for themselves. A .417 batting average, a .700 slugging percentage, 37 runners batted in and 15 stolen bases for the 2024 season - it’s all part of what led Vargas to the Select Fest for the second year in a row.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Vargas said. “It’s just a big friend group and we’re all friends, East and West. It’s the event that I always wanted to be at.”

But going into this Select Fest, he said, he’s got a different perspective - and not just because he’s a year older.

Vargas spent time earlier this year in Mexico and Colombia playing in the World Baseball Softball Confederation U-15 Baseball World Cup. In talking to him, it was clear that the month-long experience had a lifelong impact for the teenager.

“It’s a different type of game,” Vargas explained. “Here, we play for fun. We play for the name on the back of our jersey. But over there, they’re playing to make it out. So it’s a little bit of a different type of gameplay. It’s definitely an eye-opening experience…

You stay with the same kids for a month, you gotta make friends. Those are the kids that I’m gonna remember for the rest of my life. I’m thankful that they brought me in as one of them and let me come in with open arms…

When you play over there, every game is an important game. It’s like their final game. It’s their way out. When you come over here, it’s a little bit calmer, but I’m going to try to bring the energy, the same mentality and try to feed it into the team.”

In addition to bringing that same attitude he learned while competing in the WBSC Baseball World Cup, he’s also working on other aspects of his game.

“More mentally than physically, [I’m] just trying to handle failure. The game’s getting harder and [I need to] be able to handle failure that’s going to come my way and be able to keep a straight head throughout the process.”

For those young players who are looking up to Vargas and hoping to make it to a Select Fest:

“Play the game with fun, with energy. Never forget that there’s always somebody else working harder than you. So just be mentally prepared for that. Just keep working.”

PERFECTGAME.TV

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