Zander Bretza, a junior at Segerstrom High, has honorably received a full-ride scholarship to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas due to all his hard work in the game of baseball.

Bretza plays third base and pitcher. He started playing baseball at 4 years old and began his journey at Santa Ana Northwest Little League. He then switched to another travel ball league, Trombly Baseball, when he hit 8th grade. Trombly was a showcase team for players that aspire to play at the next level. Bretza originally got interested in baseball because he would go to every Angels game when he was growing up. 

“I have always loved the sport. and I knew baseball was my passion from the start, the thing that keeps me motivated is the dream of playing at the highest level. I am fortunate to have a supportive family that is with me every step of the way,” Bretza says. 

He trains at the gym, five times a week, and his hard work has definitely paid off. He believes that his commitment to UNLV was the best decision he could have made because he thinks it is the best fit for him.

He explains, “Once the decision was made I felt very excited that I knew I found the perfect school to further my education and play baseball at the division one level”. He described the whole process as “stressful” along with saying that, “[o]nce I found out that UNLV could offer me both a great academic and baseball program I felt like everything was right.” 

The process went on for a few weeks when he received another similar offer from CSUN and he was talking to about 8-10 other schools who were planning on making offers.

Bretza says, “[A]t that point, I sat down with my parents and said that I have pretty much made up my mind and was ready to make my decision. So we set up a Zoom call with UNLV, and I committed to UNLV. They liked my swing and my arm, and the recruiting coordinator kept saying that I would look great in their gear.” 

Overall, Bretza’s hard work is paying off. He will uphold his commitment to the game of baseball and do all he can to prove to himself and his family that he will make it to the top.