SHEFFIELD TWP. — When Aaron Marrero was 12 years old, he was ready to stop playing baseball.

His team traveled to Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame to play in a 50-team tournament.

"His team won that," said his father Johnny Marrero. "He realized he was a pretty good baseball player and he was going to stick it out."

Marrero, a Sheffield Village resident, did that and more. On Monday evening, he signed his letter of intent to play baseball for Winston-Salem State in North Carolina.

"It feels great as there is a weight off my shoulders now I can just relax and play," Marrero said. "I always wanted to play in the South and ironically in North Carolina. North Carolina is the best baseball you will see and I wanted to take advantage of that. I love the place and the weather."

Johnny Marrero has worked two jobs the last 16 years to put his six children through Catholic school. He is a Lorain firefighter and owns Glo-Mar Electrical.

Aaron Marrero is thankful for his dad’s sacrifice.

"It means as much to my dad as it means to me," Aaron Marrero said "It feels great. I wanted to do it for myself and my family. He has three more kids to put through Catholic school. So it is a weight off his shoulders."

Marrero recently graduated from St. Edward High School where he was a part of the 2010 State Champions. He said that experience was special.

"It meant the world," Marrero said. "We knew we had a great chance going into the season with two draft picks on the team. We were favorites but it took a lot of work. I had an injury last year but I made it back in the lineup for the playoffs and helped the team."

After playing in the outfield for St. Edward, Marrero spent last summer playing catcher for a Cincinnati Midland organization. The team won a championship at prestigious tournament in the south and Marrero opened some eyes including at St. Edward.

After being slated to return to the outfield, the St. Edward coaching staff was impressed by Marrero’s development and he finished his senior year as the starting catcher replacing Alex Lavisky who was drafted by the Cleveland Indians.

"I knew I had big shoes to fill," Marrero said. "I was trying to get a scholarship. At the time it was a struggle and no one was looking at you but all it takes it is one look."

While several schools really wanted Marrero and were offering partial scholarships, the money wasn’t a perfect fit. The elder Marrero found out that Winston-Salem State was forming a baseball team and he called coach Kevin Ritsche to see if he needed a catcher. Ritsche said yes and the Marrero sent videos.

"Kevin saw the videos and called right away and say ‘I want him’," Johnny Marrero said.

Signing the letter of commitment was the end of a long journey.

"We put in 10 years of hard work," Johnny Marrero said. "The kids has sacrificed. I don’t think he has spent Fourth of July with his family in 10 years because he was playing baseball. I am proud of the kid. He has stuck it out. He has been put in some spots where he didn’t get the recognition he deserved. I would get angry and he would say, ‘Dad it will work out’ and it did."

courtesy of Zachary Dzurick