Former Los Fresnos star Victor Loa shining with UTRGV after overcoming injury battle
Related Story
UTRGV pitcher Victor Loa was named a member of the National Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List on Friday afternoon. The junior has shined this season with the Vaqueros, posting a 5-1 record with a 1.94 ERA in nine starts this season.
Getting to this point for Loa has been far from easy.
After taking the Los Fresnos Falcons baseball team to the regional finals in 2021, Victor Loa’s college baseball career first took him to Texas State and Blinn College. Just days before his team at Blinn College was set to begin the conference tournament, Loa felt a snap in his arm during a bullpen session.
“When it came to happen, it was so surprising to me and everybody else on the team because I always took care of myself, I always ate right, I made the right decisions, it was definitely a learning experience and a blessing in disguise when it all happened.”
A UCL tear had him out for a year and with zero faith he’d be back on the mound. As time went on, that faith started to return.
“Nobody had heard from me for quite some time, and it just came back. The itch to see what it’s about, see if I could do it,” Loa said. “Come over the hump that I was going through and maybe be able to play again.”
After two years away from the game, Loa stepped back on the rubber.
“I stuck to the plan; I stayed the course like I always told myself. My parents trusted me, the people around me knew how much of a competitor I was, trusted me and I trusted God that sooner or later something good was going to happen and now I'm here at UTRGV… My heart told me to come home.”
“His competitive pieces are the things I've noticed since he walked on campus,” UTRGV baseball head coach Derek Matlock said of Loa. “He just wants to compete; that's his biggest quality for sure. I mean he’s a 5 '7, 5' 8 kid and look how strong he is and look how good his fast ball is. He won that Saturday spot with not a problem.”
Now, Loa is not only one of the top pitchers on the staff, but he’s helping the Vaqueros fight for a conference title in their first year in the SLC.
“Week in and week out I'm starting to get a little more feel,” Loa said. “I’m starting to adapt more to the situations that I knew I could get through… I always have to remind myself that I'm not the biggest, I'm not the strongest, I don't throw the hardest, but with my pitch sequences and the way I work throughout the game, the intimidating factor starts to carry inning after inning pitch after pitch.”
His strong performance has earned him the complete trust of his new head coach.
“I’m expecting excellence,” Matlock said. “Nothing but excellence from him. Just him growing, getting better and being better as the weeks keep coming and hopefully, he can stay in that spot and keep winning games on Saturdays for us.”
Whether it’s at Los Fresnos High School or UTRGV, there’s almost no one that opposing batters are more scared to see on the mound when they come to town than Victor Loa.
News
