Jesus Carrera cherishing his choice to become an Eagle

Attention! Attention, please! Get your pencil and scorecard ready, and I will give you the correct lineup for today's ballgame.
 
For Morehead State, leading off and playing first base, number 23, Jesus Carrera. Carrera.
 
Carrera?
 
Every time the MSU roster is announced this season, questions may quickly arise from those unfamiliar with the team.
 
How did the Eagles wind up with a left-handed first baseman from Venezuela?
 
How good can this guy be, considering he already has drilled game-winning walkoff hits in two of his first 12 games?
 
What was going on Sunday, when he tied a school record by notching six hits in a game?
 
Will he ever commit an error?
 
Carrera, a 6-foot-2, 185-pounder majoring in convergent media, seems to have all the answers. He lets his bat and glove do much of the talking.
 
Morehead State takes a 9-3 record into the weekend, where it will host Tennessee Tech in an Ohio Valley Conference opener. MSU is coming off a season in which it compiled a school-record 38 wins, winning the OVC Tournament title and reaching the NCAA Regional.
 
Carrera, whose homeland nickname of Chucho has been Anglicized to "Chooch" here, is a key piece to the puzzle as the Eagles try to build on that success.
 
"We've got a good chemistry all around," Carrera said. "Our pitchers, position players. … I love my team, and since Day One we are all locked in on what we have to do. Obviously we are excited about this season, and I just wish we can end it up with the same intensity or better than how we've started. So that's a process and something that everybody has to work on."
 
Carrera has done his part thus far. Through 12 games, he's third on the team with a .364 average and shares the team lead with 13 runs scored. He has a homer, 10 RBI, eight walks to three strikeouts and has played error-free.
 
His two-out, walkoff RBI single in the 10th inning was the difference in Wednesday's 9-8 win over Longwood. Earlier this season, he delivered a walkoff hit against Arkansas State.
 
Then there was last weekend's six-hit game during a 24-7 rout of Siena.
 
"He just goes out and has good at-bats," said Mike McGuire, who is in his fourth season as head coach of the Eagles. "I didn't realize it was his sixth hit of the game until they announced it on the P.A. He's just steady and goes about his business. Not too rah-rah, and just has quality at-bats."
 
Carrera hails from Valencia, the third-largest city in Venezuela. The city has produced numerous Major League players, including reigning World Series MVP Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals. His favorite players – all Venezuelans – over the years start with Omar Vizquel and work their way through Johan Santana, Jose Altuve and Perez.
 
Upon graduating from high school, Carrera spoke almost no English. But he landed a spot in a Miami academy that focused on helping Venezuelan baseball prospects learn the game and the English language, while gaining college exposure.
 
"Before I come here, I knew language would be my first obstacle. A good thing I figured it out, and now it's a plus," Carrera said. "I always wanted to. That's a key, the desire to learn."
 
Soon, Carrera had an offer to play for Southeastern Community College in Iowa. He played two years in Iowa, where he came to McGuire's attention.
 
P.J. McIntee, hired a volunteer assistant with MSU last season, previously had been a top assistant at Southeastern CC. (McIntee moved on from MSU to become recruiting coordinator at Minnesota-Mankato.)
 
"Having P.J. here really probably was a big aid in getting (Carrera)," McGuire said. "It was a good hire, as well as I ended up with a good player out of it."
 
The player from the big city in Venezuela has picked up on the dialogue of Eastern Kentucky, which he notes is different from what he learned in Miami and in Iowa. He says his teammates "are the coolest guys ever." And he enjoys the local atmosphere.
 
"This is like a retirement place," he said. "It's quiet. It's relaxed. I just love it."
 
Able to travel home only about once a year, it's tough not to be homesick. But Carrera communicates with his parents and three younger siblings on pretty much a daily basis, thanks to texting, emails or Skype.
 
And he says he practically has family here.
 
"My team, my classmates and my professors, they all help me a lot," he said. "If they see me around, they make me feel just like I'm at home."
 
On the field, Carrera has been everything McGuire had hoped he would be.
 
"He handles the bat very well," McGuire said. "He's not your typical left-handed hitting first baseman. He's a very gifted athlete. If he weren't left-handed, he could probably play shortstop. He's really good with the glove, a really good athlete, good around the bag."
 
Carrera is in the leadoff spot because he has a high on-base percentage (.444) and avoids strikeouts. He says putting the ball in play is probably his best tool.
 
"I always look forward to being a complete player," he said. "Defensively. Offensively. Run the bases. I think, number one, is put the ball in play. That's my job."
 
Always looking to hone his game, Carrera says he'd like to add more power and drive more balls into the gaps.
 
Most of all, though, he wants to help his teammates.
 
"They're amazing and they have been supporting me in everything," he said. "And I support them in everything they need from me."
 
That's just the answer the Eagles want to hear.