by Vanessa Strobbe
Daily Lobo
Jordan Pacheco doesn't spend too much time stressing about what's ahead of him.
From play to play, inning to inning and moment to moment, the UNM infielder tries to limit his thoughts to the present.
"You're going to fail so much if you worry about the future and trying to get to a certain point," Pacheco said. "You have to take it one step at a time and not worry what's going to happen, but what's happening now."
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Pacheco leads the Lobo baseball team with a .410 batting average, and though he doesn't like to think about it, he is a strong prospect for June's amateur baseball draft.
"The draft is a real crazy thing, and I can't have expectations for something like that," he said. "If you put expectations real high, you'll get let down. All I can do is focus on the present, which is how I'm playing."
The 6-foot-1-inch, 190-pound shortstop was named to the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American second team and first-team All-Mountain West Conference for the second consecutive year.
Pacheco attributes his success to patience.
"When I was younger, I wanted everything to come so fast," he said. "But now, I've put it all into perspective. It's about working hard in the moment that you're in right now."
Between Lobo ball and summer teams, Pacheco plays more than 120 games a year. On top of that, he puts extra effort into lifting weights during the fall and stays after some practices to take extra ground balls.
"Every little bit helps," Pacheco said. "Every day, I look to get better. And some days, it didn't work to my advantage, but I kept trying and have worked hard to put myself in a good place."
A homegrown Albuquerque boy from La Cueva High School, Pacheco worked to lead his nationally ranked high school baseball team to back-to-back state championships in 2003 and 2004. He was heavily recruited by Texas A&M, Arizona and LSU, and he even had a chance to go to the major leagues - but as a pitcher.
"UNM gave me a chance to actually hit and play a position," he said. "I wanted to be an everyday player, not an every-five-day player."
Last season, Pacheco's everyday play as a hitter and a shortstop helped him stack up some nation-leading statistics. Pacheco aided in 55 of 75 double plays for the Lobos - the most in the nation. He led the Lobos with 79 runs scored and was third in the nation for runs scored per game with 1.37.
"The statistics and awards tell you that your hard work has paid off," Pacheco said. "But mainly, I just put them in my back pocket for memorabilia in the future when I'm older. That's a long ways away. I'm just thinking about now."
Baseball vs. San Diego State
Today, 6 p.m.
Isotopes Park
