Years from now, when stories get shared about Alex Robles' legendary Austin Peay career, it will sound like myth-making.
Threw a shutout one day and delivered the walk-off home run the next? Robles did that.
Became the first player in Ohio Valley Conference history to earn two first-team All-OVC honors—one for pitching, one as a utility player—in the same season? Robles did that too.
Capped his career with a walk-off grand slam in his final at-bat at Raymond C. Hand Park? Robles again.
I'm sure I've forgotten something, but you get the general idea. It sounds Paul Bunyan-esque. It sounds too good to be true.
It's all true.
What's also true is that Robles didn't get here by himself. He has his lovely wife, Brianna, to thank for that.
Yes, I said wife. Of nearly six years, in fact. You read that correctly. Robles, born in 1995, was married in 2011. I don't add and subtract so well, but that makes him pretty young to be an old married man.
But that's just the way he likes it.
"Every once in a while I look at my wife and just think gosh, I can't believe I'm married to her," he said. "At the ceremony, we were looking into each other's eyes and it (marriage) set in. It was one of those moments I'll never forget. Having those times, it helps me put things in perspective so much better."
The catch early on was a pretty big one—Brianna was studying in Arizona while Robles came to Clarksville to chase his baseball dreams. And so they lived, husband and wife, 1,600 miles apart for months at a time during the first three years of Robles' collegiate career.
"There were a lot of phone calls and staying up late," Robles said, reflecting back on his early time in Clarksville. "I was trying to manage being away from home for the first time, so I was kind of homesick even though I didn't want to admit it.
"There were times I called her and just said, 'Look, I want to come back home, to you, my friends, my safe place.' And she knew from the start that it would be worth it at the end. I've trusted in her and trusted that this is where God wanted me."
This year, with Brianna joining him in Clarksville, has been easier on the couple ("She's so accepting of baseball and school as big priorities," he said). And with his bride by his side, he's enjoyed another fine season on the diamond.
Heading into the final OVC weekend, Robles is batting .343, which will easily secure him a fourth straight .300 season. His nine home runs and 41 RBI are career-high, with the home run total doubling his career output in the first three seasons. On the mound, he's leading the league in pickoffs (four) and has 77 strikeouts (tied for sixth in the OVC); he enters the weekend 11 strikeouts short of tying Shawn Kelley for most in Austin Peay history.
The dichotomy of Robles' roles on the field present an interesting—perhaps to his detriment—dilemma as he begins to think about a professional career. The days of the two-way player in professional baseball are all but extinct. So what is Alex Robles at the next level?
Everyone has their opinion. Van Stokes, APSU's play-by-play voice, thinks his arm and knowledge of pitching makes him a prime candidate to catch. Others see him as a super-utility player across the diamond. Given his knack for coming up big in big moments, late-inning stopper isn't out of the question.
For Robles, the choice can change on a game-by-game basis.
"There are days where I go 3-for-4 and come home going, 'Yeah, I'm going to be a hitter,'" he said. "And there are also days where I go seven innings and allow two runs and I'm like, 'I can make it as a pitcher.' But there are days where I go 0-for-4 and I'm a pitcher for sure, or I get shelled and I'm a hitter. The balance is so crazy. I've come to the realization that I really don't care as long as I'm playing at the next level."
Robles believed he would be picked during last season's MLB Draft, alongside a trio of guys who came to Clarksville with him in the fall of 2013—Garrett Copeland, Logan Gray and Ridge Smith. How one of college baseball's most talented two-way players was overlooked is a mystery that may never be solved.
"I don't truly know why I didn't get drafted (last year)," Robles said. "Maybe my height? Maybe my projectability? I trust that my talents are there and I've talked to enough scouts to know that they think the same thing.
"Even though it was what I wanted and what my family wanted, because I've been dreaming forever about getting drafter, at the end of the day it was probably better for me to come back and get my degree and chase a championship again. My wife is here now; I get to finish my career with the guys I came up with—it's awesome."
So he's winding up his career as the old, married veteran on the team. A leader. A beacon for freshmen to look to as an example. For a happy-go-lucky kid from Tucson, it's been a dynamic role-reversal.
"It's so weird being the old guy," he said. "Guys look to me now to say something or tell them to do something. I was lucky I had guys like Jared Carkuff to look up to—guys who struck the right balance between goofy, crazy guy and always doing the right thing. He taught me a lot on how to be a really good leader without trying too hard—how to be yourself and lead by example. I couldn't be the crazy senior yelling at freshmen for not picking up baseballs or something; that's not me."
Robles' time at Austin Peay draws short; he and the Govs need to take care of business at Eastern Illinois to secure an OVC Tournament berth. If Robles has his way, they'll be in again with a chance to make some noise. Whether at the plate or on the mound, Robles always wants another chance.
One more chance to add to the legend.
