Glades Central High School senior David Gonzalez is this week’s Big Lake Athlete of the Week for his performance with the Glades Central Raiders baseball team.

Gonzalez leads the Raiders with 10 hits and eight RBIs for the season and currently has a .344 batting average.

Special to the Okeechobee News/Rene Leon
Glades Central senior David Gonzalez currently leads the Raiders in batting with a .344 batting average.

Raiders head coach Rene Leon says Gonzalez’s play took a step up during his junior year in 2018.

“He’s always been a very coachable kid,” said Leon. “He’s so consistent and not only in hitting but also defense, Great pitcher and great third basemen. I’m honored and thankful to have the opportunity to coach him. It makes my job easier to have a kid like that.”

Gonzalez is coming off a 2018 season which saw him earn a nomination for the 5A player of the year with a season batting average of .351.

In addition to his accomplishments in athletics, Gonzalez maintains a 3.6 GPA at Glades Central High School.

Gonzalez has been a part of the Raiders baseball program for three years now and Leon believes he has the potential to continue playing baseball at the collegiate level.

Over the past three games Gonzalez has gone four-for-six with three RBIs and four walks. One of those games was a blowout 15-5 Raiders win over Pahokee on April 18.

Junior Cristian Rodriguez was able to flash some offensive skills against Pahokee, leading the Raiders with two hits and three RBIs and stealing two bases, while freshman pitcher Miguel Perez stood on the mound for Glades Central, striking out seven.

For now Leon says he wants to see the Raiders close out the regular season strong. Glades Central hosts LaBelle at 6 p.m. on April 26.

If you’d like to nominate a student or athlete for Big Lake Athlete of the Week, email the name of your nominee along with what sport they play to Lake Okeechobee News sports reporter Richard Marion at rmarion@newszap.com.