Othello star Alix Garcia getting married, then off to play Big 12 ball at Oklahoma State
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Othello graduate Alix Garcia has been offered a scholarship to play baseball at Oklahoma State University.
Central Arizona athletics Alix Garcia of Othello finished his Central Arizona baseball career hitting .350. He was an all-conference first team selection his first season and second team all-conference as a sophomore.
OTHELLO — As the bumper sticker goes, “When one door closes, another one opens. But those hallways are a drag.”
But you know, Alix Garcia had a pretty good time running up and down the hall waiting for that next door to open. The Othello baseball standout was recruited out of high school to play at Washington State University. But when the Cougars changed head coaches from Donnie Marbut to Marty Lees in 2016, Washington State pulled its offer.
Garcia ended up playing community college ball the past two seasons at Central Arizona College in Coolidge, Ariz. He finished with a career batting average of .350 and 108 RBIs. He was a first-team all-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference selection in 2017. Despite hitting .368 with six home runs his second season, he was a 2018 second-team all-conference selection.
Garcia didn’t have to wait long for that next door to open.
He’s getting married to high school sweetheart Kylee Hawley in August and then they’re off to Stillwater, Okla., were Alix was offered a baseball scholarship to play at Oklahoma State University. The colors of the uniform will change, but the team mascot will remain the same.
Garcia’s going from being a Vaquero to a Cowboy, playing Big 12 baseball and chasing the dream with the woman he loves.
Doesn’t get any better than that.
“I guess I’ll have to get used to playing in the wind again,” he said with a laugh.
Garcia stood in the dugout at Huskie Field Monday morning looking, for all intents and purposes, like the kid who blew out of town on his way to chase a dream. The shoulder-length hair was gone, but the smile and the respect for his elders is still there. Every answer included a “Yes sir” or “no sir.”
His original plan was to play NCAA Division I baseball right out of high school, but now he’s a little more experienced, got a little more life under his belt, and a soon-to-be wife by his side.
“Having the new coach at Washington State pull my scholarship was a blessing in disguise, I would say,” he said. “Going to Central Arizona definitely helped me out academically. I was able to ease into the college atmosphere, rather than being thrown in the fire at the D-I level.
“It was a smoother path into the academic world and the baseball was great.”
It’s not like he went to some bottom-feeder program in Fishbite Falls, Somewhere, and had to suck it up for a couple of years. Central Arizona College has won NJCAA national championships in 1976 and 2002. It’s a quality program that has produced the likes of Major League stars Ian Kinsler (Los Angeles), Tony Barnette (Texas) and A.J. Schugel (Pittsburgh).
“The best part about Alix is that he’s a great kid. It’s easy to put him in the lineup because he’s playing so well, but he works really hard and is doing all the right things,” said Anthony Gilich, who is in his 12th season at Central Arizona. “Alix certainly has the potential to play Division I baseball and potentially professional baseball.”
Turning pro is the end game, and Garcia had a chance to get a taste of what that skill set is like when Central Arizona played a couple of exhibition games against minor league teams in the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers systems.
“I didn’t think the Kansas City team was all that much different that us, but the Rangers’ team was really good,” he said. “I don’t remember the first two strikes, but this Rangers pitcher busts me inside for called strike three. They told me later it was 100 mph. I mean. I barely saw it, that’s how good it was.”
The more you play, the better you get, no matter how tough it is on your ego at times, said Garcia, who was discovered playing for the Spokane Dodgers elite program.
He signed a 20-game contract in June to play for the Wenatchee AppleSox in the West Coast League. The WCL is a premiere summer, wood-bat league that gives college-eligible players an atmosphere that matches the minor league conditions, as well as provides great exposure to professional scouts.
Garcia drove in the game-winning run with a two-run shot in the AppleSox 3-1 victory over Walla Walla June 20 at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium. He also had a base-clearing double for three RBIs during his time with the AppleSox.
“My first trip with the AppleSox was to Victoria, B.C., which was pretty amazing,” he said. “They set their franchise attendance record one night with around 5,000 people. I love playing in front of people and that was definitely the largest crowd I’ve ever played in front of.
“I hope to get a chance to play in front bigger crowds (at either in the College World Series or on the big stage in the Major Leagues).”
He said he’ll pick up a six-game contract and play some games in July, but his big focus this summer is the wedding and doing the next right thing in a story that’s still be written.
Next chapter, Stillwater.