Coyote legacy to play on East Coast

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera Coyote baseball player Zach Sanchez is all smiles with his parents, Jerika and Allan Sanchez, after signing a National Letter of Intent to Eastern University in Pennsylvania.

---

Madera Coyote baseball player Zach Sanchez is signed, sealed and delivered to play for Eastern University in Delaware County Pennsylvania.

The son of a former football and baseball player and a former softball player, playing baseball was in his blood from the beginning.

Sanchez, a three-year varsity player, earned first-team All-County/Metro Athletic Conference honors, and also did some damage on the mound. He was named The Madera Tribune’s Baseball Pitcher of the Year.

“I believe my career was successful,” he said. “I felt like I made an impact on the underclassmen. Even though my family is centered about baseball, I felt like I made them proud.”

Sanchez, who earned a 3.8 grade point average at Madera, plans to major in environmental studies at Eastern with a goal of becoming a fire fighter.

“I’ve been wanting to be a fire fighter my whole life to serve my community. Fire fighter is my dream job,” he said.

However, Sanchez’s No. 1 school was Fresno Pacific University. But, after a while, they kind of fell off Sanchez’s radar, and Eastern University picked up some steam.

“Eastern was the only aggressive school,” he said. “They really showed interested and offered me the most scholarship money. They gave me a really good percentage. I wanted to got a college that wanted me. I was going to spend my next four years at a home. I wanted to go to a school where they wanted me and I wasn’t a number to them. That’s a blessing I have gotten.”

FPU coaches were going to some of his games last year, and Sanchez developed connections with some of the coaches, but they didn’t respond to Sanchez, so he shifted his focus to Eastern.

“Their coach contacted me first,” Sanchez said. “I’m at a middle school football game doing athletic training. The game ends, and there’s a food truck, and I was in line for food. I got a text from a random number I didn’t recognize. They sent a huge paragraph that they wanted me. I showed my mom, and it was huge for me. I kept on texting and called the next week. That was the call that told us what they were about. They hoped they could get me a tour. It as a cool experience.”

In the summer of 2025, Sanchez played for California Baseball Academy, and that’s where Eastern found out about Sanchez.

“They coach was asking for film. Two months later, this coach contacted me out of nowhere,” he said.

After talking over the phone, Sanchez convinced his parents to take a tour of the campus in Pennsylvania.

“I wasn’t sure of Eastern because of how far it was,” he said. “The coach was real nice. They were going to do whatever it took for me to come there. The town was beautiful and closed in woods. It’s a totally different culture. It’s 20 minutes from Philadelphia. It’s a slow pace over there.”

Heading into Madera, Sanchez always wanted to keep playing baseball in college, but knew he may not get recruited by Div. 1 schools.

“I had college in my mind when I started,” he said. “Knowing I was a smaller guy, I wanted to go to Div. I. Going into my senior year, maybe a Div. I was a good option, but I was opening my eyes to other schools for college. Going into my junior year, I should get a good shot at college ball.”

He committed after his visit in October of 2025, and officially signed his National Letter of Intent later that month.

“After seeing the community and how the coaching staff is, I really loved the organization. I was thinking about it. It was a difficult decision for me. It’s a life changing experience for me,” he said.

“The feeling about signing is I came so far from being a little kid with a mindset to playing in college. Putting the work into it knowing the work paid off. I got the dream I wanted, and I’m going to become a firefighter with this degree. It’s a blessing. I give thanks to the Lord. Without him, I don’t think this would happen.”

After the success on the mound this past season, Sanchez is prepared to become a two-way player, even though he was recruited to play the outfield and hit.

He played with some of the best players in the Central Section at the City/County All-Star baseball game, and was ready to take the mound, if needed.

“I was hoping I would get to pitch,” he said. “But, I was happy to play the outfield. I was rushing to the bullpen. I had all my hitting gear on, and the coach said they might need me to pitch. I was getting the feel to my pitches, and the reliever got out of the inning. I had to rush back to the dugout to get my hitting gear on.”

Last year, Sanchez also got the opportunity to play football, for the first time in his life, and played with his cousin, Anthony Estrada.

“I told my cousin if he made varsity, I would play with him,” Sanchez said. “I knew he would make varsity. I wanted to get football out of my system. I wish I could have gotten more touches. But, I’m a baseball player. I did the best I could to help the team. I fell like having Anthony there, and being the bigger cousin, I was trying to get him mentally prepared. He held up on his own. We got closer. I picked him up, took him to practice and took him home.”

Sanchez is the oldest of three. He has two younger sisters, one who is also at Madera.

“I’ve shown the blueprint and told them the mistakes I’ve made,” he said. “I’m on them all the time to be good on their grades and other things. It’s good to see they are both successful in the classroom and other sports. I feel like I’m going to be missed. They are my little rocks.”

Now that Sanchez is going across the country, his family will have to deal with him being so far away.

“My mom is a wreck about me playing in Pennsylvania,” he said. “She’s been crying every week knowing I’m going to leave. My dad wanted me to get out of the house for college. But, I don’t think he thought I would choose the East Coast. They are very supportive of me. Thank the Lord, we have the technology to update each other. I will be calling other cousins and siblings. It will be a shock to me, but I’m willing to take that risk for my future. I’ll show up to the holidays. My parents are going to come during my spring break to watch me play.”