Give me a break: Carlos Amezquita is living his dream with the High Point Rockers

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 31, 2025

By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

Carlos Amezquita is like most baseball players on the fringes of success. He’s just looking for the right opportunity to prove himself.

Amezquita, who graduated from West Forsyth in 2019, is currently playing with the High Point Rockers, which is a team in the 10-member Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent professional league.

He was signed early last week for his fourth separate stint with the Rockers this season after the team drafted him eighth before the season.

“They believe in me. They have a lot of confidence in me,” he said. “I’m the youngest guy here and all the other guys here have either played in MLB (Major League Baseball) or they played affiliated ball. So, as a manager I would do the same thing. You’ve got to play the guys, the best, to give you the best chance to win.

At 23, Amezquita, a native of the Dominican Republic who moved here when he was 12, has fleeting chances after not being drafted out of college. After he graduated from West Forsyth, he played his first two years of college at St. Andrews. He then transferred to Patrick & Henry Community College in Martinsville, Va., a junior college. After one season, he transferred to UNC Pembroke where played two seasons until 2024.

“They just gave me a chance to play and, yeah, you give the young guy a chance,” Amezquita said. “You’ve got to ride out the best with the older guys.”

He was initially cut by the Rockers after spring training. They called him back early in the season.

“After the first week, I got released again I was at home still hitting. I was just sitting at home for about three weeks,” Amezquita said. “And one of the guys here, in the meantime they were still trying to find me somewhere to play. In the meantime, the first baseman here, he got signed. And that’s when they said, ‘Hey, we’re going to give you a locker. You’re gonna come be with us, stay here.”

That third stint lasted from early June until the first week of July. According to Amezquita, he was traded by the Rockers to the Washington (Pa.) Wild Things, which is an independent team in the Frontier League.

“They (Rockers) ended up trading me there for a pitcher,” he said. “They did need pitching and there wasn’t a chance for me to play every day here. So, they did what was best for me and sent me over there so I could play every day.”

Jamie Keefe, the manager of the High Point Rockers, said much of the reason for the trade to Washington (Pa.) was that Amezquita missed about 10 days with a hamstring injury and it was a battle of numbers on the roster because some players returned from injury.

“He wasn’t going to get the playing time, so I put him out there available for a trade where he could go perform at a really high level the way he was performing, and maybe a little bit lower league where he might be able to put some really good numbers up,” Keefe said. “Boy, he did that. He hit .269 when he was there, but when he went over to Washington, I think his second start, he walked the team off at home for a walk-off RBI. The next day, he had a home run.”

Amezquita has mixed reviews on his experience in Washington (Pa.).

“It was interesting,” he said. “I did the best I could. I did my job there and I was very open to the opportunity, very happy to be there. I was there two weeks, I played six games there. And after six games, I guess they just didn’t see me as the best fit, and they brought some other guys in and they let me go.”

Strangely enough, in his final game for the Wild Things, Amezquita went 4 for 4. 

“I was a triple shy of the cycle and they released me,” he said. “I don’t know why but they told me I would have a chance to play shortstop every day and that’s what I should do. I don’t know. It was their reasoning. I have my own opinion about it. Regardless, they let me go.”

The next day, Amezquita reached out to Keefe.

“Carlos came to the league-wide tryout here in High Point, which is a tryout for the entire league,” Keefe said. “There’s a couple 100 kids here and we watch these guys. I like to go to these drafts and really like to draft athleticism. And that’s one thing that stood out is Carlos ran a 6.3 (seconds in the 60-yard dash) and looked really good taking ground balls and swung the bat really well.

“And you know it’s just one of those things where if you can play shortstop and you can run a 6.3 you probably have a pretty good opportunity of making this club.”

Right off the bat, Amezquita made an impact this stint with the Rockers. Playing left field, he made a diving catch to preserve a win on Thursday, July 24, against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

“It was pretty cool, he said. “I’m grateful to have the abilities I have, blessed with the abilities I have to make that catch. It’s definitely just another moment that shows me what I’m capable of and what I could do if I keep working.”

Amezquita can play almost any infield or outfield position.

“Wherever they need me I’ll play,” he said. “I’ve got the outfield experience, maybe not at the pro level, but I do have some outfield experience.”

He might currently be on the roster for the Rockers, but he shined with the team as early as spring training.

“You know, out of spring training the kid came in and I just watched him over and over and over again,” Keefe said. “Right out of spring training, he did not make the club, but I told him, ‘Carlos, listen you’re going to be a phone call away.’

“And I told him, ‘Most kids, I’ll find them a job in a different league, but because you’re local I’d really like to keep you around because I know that we’re going to lose one or two guys here pretty soon.”

The call came soon. Around 10 games into the season, Keefe reached out to Amezquita. 

“We lost our catcher. And we needed a body,” Keefe said. “And I brought him in that night and he’s been on and off the roster four times now — just roster move for roster moves.”

Most of the moves came down to what the Rockers needed.

“We’ve got our every day guys and he was not an every day guy right out of the gate,” Keefe said. “So, we’ve given him an opportunity to grow and be around these veterans. And out of everybody that’s ever played here, year No. 5 or 6 actually here in High Point and I would say that I don’t think I’ve seen a rookie, a guy that has come out of college take to the leadership that we have here and really have his ears open and listen and understand what it takes.”

The opportunities are there, be it with the Rockers or some other pro team, whether it be an independent team, a minor-league team or a major-league team.

“You see a lot of guys have the best year or the game of their life and still don’t get anything out of it,” Amezquita said. “But I certainly hope so. There’s an adjustment period, so I started off kind of slow. But now my numbers, I’ve brought them back up a good amount.”

The amount of positions he can play has definitely paid dividends for him.

“I think I’ve told him a couple times I was in a very similar situation when I was in the (San Diego) Padres organization. Being the athlete that I was, I needed to give myself every opportunity I could to get into the every-day lineup,” said Keefe. “That meant that I came up as a middle infielder.

“That’s great because you’re an athlete, but you’ve got to train yourself to be able to play everywhere. And sometimes when you do that, it gives that longevity of keeping you around over somebody else. And he’s done that.”

No matter which stint he’s had with the Rockers, he’s been able to soak it all in in terms of what it takes to be a professional.

“He’s taken advantage of watching these guys put their work in and how to take care of your body — from how to take care of your body to how to go about doing this every single day to keep your body in-tune with itself to perform at the highest level each and every day,” said Keefe.

According to Keefe, Amezquita was playing for the Rockers in June and playing there three to four days per week.

“He was hitting about .115, .120, and then all of a sudden something clicked,” Keefe said. “I know he had been (getting) a bunch of time in with George Greer (the former head coach at Wake Forest), our hitting coach, just to get him a little more on-time and really trust his hands because he’s so athletic that he was trying to use too much body.

“He’s a big kid, very strong individual. If he’d just let his fast-twitch muscles take over, a lot of it has to do with the hands and the eyes. If he’d let that happen he’d probably have more success.”

The hard work paid off. Keefe said within a week, Amezquita’s average jumped to .330.

“It’s nice to see somebody grow and get the opportunity to do that,” Keefe said. “Basically, he didn’t let me take him out of the lineup. You know, he made me play him every day, which is always a blast from a manager’s standpoint.”

Despite this opportunity nothing is promised to Amezquita.

“Not sure,” he said about the length he might play in High Point. “There’s a guy on the IL (injured list) right now, and then another guy. Both played in the bigs. One is on the IL and one went home to have a kid, which was a newborn. So, when those guys come back I don’t know what could happen. But regardless, I like to try not to think about it just because I’ve got to play good regardless of what happens.”

There is still plenty of season remaining, but nothing for Amezquita is guaranteed.

“We truly feel like he is here and he’s in a place where he’s supposed to be,” Keefe said. “He keeps ending up on the roster and he keeps performing like he did (last Thursday when) in the bottom of the ninth inning they had a runner on first base and two outs. And there was a ball hit in the left-center gap and he ran about 75 feet completely laid out and made an incredible catch to win it.”

No matter the duration he has in playing professional baseball, no matter where, the opportunity is in front of Amezquita.

“I’m infinitely grateful for Jamie and the staff here, too,”  he said. “Believing in me and bringing me back as the guy that once somebody gets hurt they think of me, immediately think of me.”