No spring break for Gomez

Gomez, who was a track regional qualifier last year in the shot put, recorded a PR of 50-11 in that event in a meet on April 23rd against Mishawaka and Plymouth.

“He’s done well considering he has had to miss out on some practice situations due to baseball games being rescheduled during the season,” Shafer said.

On the baseball diamond, Gomez is hitting .357 with seven RBIs, four doubles, one triple and one homer, while being a third baseman, first baseman and designated hitter.

“Derek started slow with the bat, which was expected, but he has started to get on track the last several games,” said Concord baseball coach Greg Hughes. “Defensively, he’s played very solid at third base.

“Derek has very good power and is surprisingly fast for his size. He is just a good athlete and you want those type of athletes on the field.”

Gomez has high expectations for himself for both sports and he feels that he has come up short in meeting those goals so far this year.

“I haven’t done as well as I would have liked for either sport,” Gomez said. “But I think things will level out as the year goes along.”

Has he heard any interesting comments from others when it comes to his uncommon high school spring sports schedule?

“I’ve heard no comments from teammates,” Gomez said. “They knew that I would try to do it. They all kind of expected it to happen.

“My parents were happy when they found out that I could do both. They enjoy watching me play baseball.”

When he’s not playing a sport, Gomez finds time to work on his studies.

“Usually late at night after I get home from games and practices is when I do my schoolwork,” he said. “I also do some of that during the day whenever I have time. I have an internship and I’m out early from high school.”

His internship involves working with head football coach Craig Koehler in the weight room.

And where does sleep fit in for Gomez?

“Not much, but I think I get enough sleep for myself,” Gomez said.

In another year, football and academics will take up much of Gomez’s time when he attends Wabash College. He committed to the school to play football a month ago.

“I just like their community and what has taken place for their alumni,” Gomez said. “I’ve been told that you’re guaranteed a good future if you finish all four years at Wabash. Their graduates give back to the school and that shows you how much they care about the school.”

Gomez showed during his time at Concord that he was a special football talent while playing on offense, defense and special teams. Gomez, who totaled over 1,000 yards of offense and made 114 tackles this past year for the Minutemen, was an Indiana Football Coaches Association Class 5A All-State selection as a senior.

“I’d say that I definitely miss not playing football in the spring,” Gomez said. “But I get to play football in college for another four years and I’m looking forward to that.”

Gomez hasn’t ruled out being a multi-sport athlete in college.

“Football is my number one sports and I’d say baseball is a close second,” Gomez said.

“I wouldn’t mind playing football and baseball in college, but that would be a lot harder to do at the next level.”