Athlete of the Week: Victor Loa

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — As a baseball fan from an early age, Victor Loa overcame a lack of playing time to succeed at the collegiate level. He came back from an elbow injury to become a workhorse for UTRGV.

“Kind of made me want it more,” said Loa, a UTRGV Redshirt Junior Pitcher. “Finally, I kind of felt like my back was always going to be against the wall. But now that I'm here, it's like I ain't got nothing to lose. I told myself, stay the course, so I have it on my glove, written.”

Coming out of Los Fresnos High School, he accomplished his dream of playing Division 1 at Texas State.

He then transferred to Blinn College.

Last year, he didn’t play. Instead, he was rehabbing his elbow injury. He stayed ready, then UTRGV called, and the rest is history.

“Texas State popped and we offered him, and he left us, but didn't pitch up there as much as he wanted to,” said Derek Matlock, UTRGV Baseball Coach. “And I just think over time he's grown a chip, and he wants to get back on the mound and be the guy that he was in high school, and he's doing that right now for us at the Division 1 level.”

One reminder he doesn’t need is the love he has for the Valley.

“I'm representing the RGV proudly,” said Loa. “And you know, there's a lot of people I feel like have looked up to me these last couple of weeks, just because everything I overcame and everything I did and everything I'm still trying to do.”

And he’s doing it. Loa has a 4-1 record with a 2.03 ERA and is top 3 on the team in strikeouts. He takes a simple approach to getting batters out.

“It's just focusing on that one specific pitch that I have to execute,” said Loa. “So that's the goal, you know, that's what I kind of go into. So yes, when I get ahead in two strikes, I try to put the guy away, but then I remember, eight guys behind me are trying to make a play for me.”

Most pitchers eclipse the six-foot mark. Loa gets the job done on the mound at 5 feet 8 inches.

“If you know about the honey badger, they're one of the toughest animals in the Safari,” said Loa. “So I kind of tell myself that too. I'm not the biggest, I'm not the strongest, I don't throw the hardest, but I have the tools to be great, and I have to remind myself that every single day.”

Having been doubted and underestimated, Victor continues to prove the naysayers wrong.