Brendan Rodgers used to dream of playing in the Major League, writing on his homework at a young age, “I want to be a baseball player because it’s really fun, I can hit home runs. I can win trophies and souvenirs. I want to be a Major League Baseball player one day.”
Today, Rodgers is closer than most to making that dream come true. The 18 year old shortstop from Lake Mary High School is the projected #1 MLB draft pick.
“It’s been my goal ever since, honestly I picked up that baseball at 5-6 years old, and I’ve never let it go. I’ve just worked to where I am today, and all my hard work has paid off so far. There is no reason for me to stop now if I have already gotten this far.”
It’s a dream that almost never began. Brendan’s first sport was soccer, same as his older brothers and his father Greg. As Brendan’s mom Julie tells it, it took a neighbor to turn Brendan’s attention.
“Our neighbor Ralph Nenna lived about 4 houses down, and he used to take his son Bradley, and Brendan, to hit in the front yard and throw balls. He kept saying he is a natural, he has got it down,” said Julie.
Nenna is still a big part of baseball for Brendan. Bradley Nenna plays catcher for Lake Mary, and Ralph is at every game to watch his son – and Brendan. “Brendan picked up on things very quickly and he had great hand eye coordination, just when he started playing, just flipping him the ball and hitting, you could just see he had good hand eye coordination. And he fell in love with the game right away, liked to practice every day. From the get-go he was pretty much something special,” said Nenna.
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