‘It was kind of a heart-drop moment.’ El Capitan freshman headed to Team USA event.

It was an early birthday gift for El Capitan freshman Jacob Reyes.

Jacob’s father, Martin, handed him a gift three days before his birthday. He opened the gift to find out he had been selected to represent Northern California at the 15-and-under USA Baseball National Team Identification Series in Cary, North Carolina.

“I was really excited for it,” Jacob said. “It was kind of a heart-drop moment.”

Jacob will fly out to North Carolina on Tuesday to play with the other players selected for the Northern California region to play against 15 other regional teams.

The trip means that Reyes, 15, will miss his first couple days of his freshman year at El Capitan High.

“It’s going to be a great experience,” Reyes. “It’s crazy to thing about.”

Reyes’ journey to North Carolina started two months ago at a tryout in Clovis for players 14 to 18 years old. From there he was selected to play in an all-star game at Cal Berkeley. Reyes fared well in the all-star game and was ultimately selected to represent Northern California with 17 other players.

The Northern California team will play against teams from 15 other regions from around the country at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Players who stand out during the four-day tournament will be invited to tryout next year for the 16U national team.

Reyes, who plays shortstop and second base, grew up a baseball family. He started playing the sport at the age of 3.

“That’s how I was introduced to the game,” Reyes said. “My family really likes baseball. I loved it from the start. My dad has coached me most of my life.”

Small in stature, the 5-foot-6 Reyes’ favorite player is Houston Astros star Jose Altuve.

Reyes can’t wait to test his skills against some of the top players in his age group in the country.

“I’m ready to see what it’s like,” he said. “I know California has great players, but I want to see players from other states. I want to see what the kids from Texas and Florida are like because I hear they are really good.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 2:42 PM.