After spending his freshman season at San Jose State University, pitcher/outfielder Jakob Gonzalez transferred to play with the Cerritos College baseball team in 2018. He turned in a season where he was 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA on the mound and batted .240 with 10 RBI and six doubles, which resulted in his signing with Oklahoma Baptist University.
"When I left San Jose State, the first placed I checked out was Cerritos and I immediately fell in love with Kincaid Field when I first laid my eyes on it and knew this was where I wanted to play," said Gonzalez.
Tabbed to be the Falcons closer at the start of the season, Gonzalez struggled early on, but pitched a superb 4 1/3 innings of relief to help secure a 3-2 win over Ventura College. He didn't allow any runs or hits and appeared in his last game on the mound on April 9 against Pasadena City College. He went on to play right right field when injuries forced the coaching staff to move several players out of position. He then took over the designated hitter duties for the remainder of the season.
At the plate, he had five multiple hit games, which included going 5-for-8 with four RBI in the first round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs against Los Angeles Pierce College. He drove in nine of his 10 runs in the final eight games.
He will be joining the Bisons, who went 31-19 last season and advanced to the NCAA Division II Central Region Playoffs, where their season ended after a pair of losses. But Gonzalez said that his days of batting appear to be over.
"It was a fun year with being able to hit and field, but it's time to retire the bat, as I will be a pitcher only at OBU," said Gonzalez. "I chose OBU because of their awesome coaching staff and the opportunity to further my education, as well as strengthen my faith, while being a part of such a respected program."
Although he spent just one season with the Falcons, Gonzalez stated that this was the most memorable of his career because, "I have never been on a team with that much chemistry! What I will remember most will be just having fun with the boys on the field. Also, with all the extra work we did with Coach (Hector) Zamora, I will never forget because he was at the field all day getting us better and that was a big part on why we were successful this season. Being part of Coach (Ken) Gaylord's final team was an experience that I will never forget. Knowing that it was his last year made us want to win that much more and go out with a bang."