Julian Cazares, standout pitcher from Los Banos High School, has made a commitment to join Stanford University’s baseball program. This significant decision solidifies Cazares’ future in the collegiate baseball world.
Cazares has gathered attention for his impressive performances on the mound. His fastball, reaching mid-90s, and a sharp breaking ball have proven dangerous against top competition. As a key player for the Los Banos Tigers, Cazares led his team to notable victories.
Cazares explained how he felt after receiving the scholarship. “I felt really good about my commitment to Stanford. This is a big accomplishment not only for me, but for my family as well,” he said. “Committing to Stanford is something I thought would have never happened, so I am beyond grateful to receive a scholarship from them and I will continue to work hard in school and on the baseball field.”
Stanford has one of the more successful baseball programs in the country.
Cazares received a phone call from Stanford’s pitching coach.
“The pitching coach told me that he had seen me pitch in previous events and he liked what he saw,” Cezares said. “During the call, he was telling me what Stanford has to offer and about the baseball program as well.
“He then offered me a scholarship to go there and before answering, I spoke to my parents about it to see if it was the right fit for me and we all believed it was. I called the coach back a couple days later and told him that I wanted to commit and we were all very excited about it,” he said.
Many other colleges and universities were also interested in recruiting Cazares. He chose Stanford because it has an excellent baseball program as well as one of the best academic programs in the country. Cazares has the opportunity to receive a very good degree which can help set him up for his future.
A major reason as to why he chose Stanford was because it is close to his home and his family.
Cazares will be coming into his junior season at Los Banos High School. He will graduate with the class of 2026 and join Stanford’s class of 2026, competing in the highly competitive Pac-12 Conference.
His focus remains on leading Los Banos to successful seasons before transitioning into collegiate baseball.
“I have high expectations for myself for the next two seasons because the previous two seasons I performed really well. I know I will keep improving as I go on and I want to have good stats all around,” he said. “For the next two years, I mainly want to focus on my pitching stats. I want to be the top pitcher in our league and I believe that I am capable of doing that as long as I keep working hard and pushing myself to be better.”
Short term goals for Cazares are to continue being stellar on the baseball field for the remainder of his high school career and to keep increasing his fastball’s speed. His long-term goals are to make it to the major leagues of baseball and graduate from Stanford with a degree.
