SE: Ceballos Takes Odd Path to K-State Baseball in Stride
Mar 29, 2019 | Baseball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Since Chris Ceballos got to K-State, he's heard his last name pronounced more ways than he can remember.
Suh-BALL-ohs. Sev-OH-los. Ka-BALL-ohs.
He's learned to laugh at it.
"It's bad," he said, laughing. "I just go up there thinking, 'Let's see how bad they can pronounce my name this time.'"
Ceballos — pronounced suh-BUY-ohs, for the record — has grown accustomed to letting little things like that go. His journey here, which included a time when he was close to walking away from the game for good, helped create his easy-going nature.
"I've just been going with the flow," he said of ending up in Manhattan. "One door closes, another one opens."
When Ceballos started his collegiate career, getting to become K-State's starting catcher, as well as leading the team in RBI (21) and slugging percentage (.536) going into this weekend's home series against No. 10 Texas Tech, was more like a trap door. He never saw it coming.
An All-American high school product out of Chino Hills, California, Ceballos signed to play at Cal State Fullerton — a power in the West Coast Conference that has not missed an NCAA postseason appearance in his lifetime.
The talented catcher did not get the experience he expected as a freshman, however. He saw zero game time. The decision to redshirt him came late. His love for the game soon turned sour. He told friends and family how he dreaded walking onto the field.
"I was probably like two weeks from hanging the cleats up and never stepping on the field again," Ceballos said. "I was hating it."
Fortunately, an opportunity at Orange Coast College opened up. Ceballos described it as "the best thing that ever happened to me," for multiple reasons.
First, he began to love baseball again. Even more, he hit .319 as a sophomore with an on-base percentage of .429. Lastly, he made an impression that would, unexpectedly, pay off down the road.
At the time, however, Ceballos was committed to play at Point Loma, a Division II school in San Diego. About a week before he was set to move there, he got an email from the school's head coach. He figured it was report day details. Instead, it was blindsiding news that the head coach was leaving for another job.
Ceballos had no idea who the school might bring in, so he started searching for other options. He reached out to his Orange Coast College coach, John Altobelli, who reached out to K-State's first-year pitching coordinator Buck Taylor, previously Palomar Community College's head coach.
Taylor remembered coaching against Ceballos. He also knew K-State needed depth at catcher.
"Literally within three days I was out here on a visit," Ceballos said. "I loved it. Everything they showed me — the facilities, the academic side — I was in love. I knew this is where I needed to be.
"Within a span of like a week and a half, I went from, 'Let's go to San Diego,' and then it was, like, 'I guess I'm not going to San Diego. I'm going out to Manhattan, Kansas.' It's been really odd, but it's been a really fun adventure."
Ceballos' adventure instilled humility. While he has four home runs already at K-State, the team's third-best batting average (.321) and went 6-for-11 in his first Big 12 series against Oklahoma State last weekend, Ceballos said he knows from experience that nothing is guaranteed.
"I think my past has definitely shaped me into how I go about my business now. Going in as a freshman at Cal State Fullerton, you think you're a hot shot, nothing can beat you, and you can get punched in the face really quick," he said. "I got knocked down, but I've definitely gotten back up and realized that you have to grind through things, you have to put in the extra effort, and that's what's going to get you to the places you want to go."
His journey also brought perspective. Every once in a while, when Ceballos walks out onto the field for practice, he'll just stop, soak it all in and forget everything else. It's hard for him to remember the days he hated playing.
"I'm so blessed to be able to put this jersey on, put the cleats on and do something that a lot of people say they can't do. I think, for me, that's what keeps me going, knowing that coming to the field every day is a blessing," he said. "It's amazing that I can put on the purple and go out and have fun and not have a care in the world.
"I think everything really does happen for a reason. I haven't really gotten down about what's happened. I've really tried to see the positives in everything. I think that's what helped me with my success here, not worrying about the bad things that happen and knowing something good's going to come from everything."
Since Chris Ceballos got to K-State, he's heard his last name pronounced more ways than he can remember.
Suh-BALL-ohs. Sev-OH-los. Ka-BALL-ohs.
He's learned to laugh at it.
"It's bad," he said, laughing. "I just go up there thinking, 'Let's see how bad they can pronounce my name this time.'"
Ceballos — pronounced suh-BUY-ohs, for the record — has grown accustomed to letting little things like that go. His journey here, which included a time when he was close to walking away from the game for good, helped create his easy-going nature.
"I've just been going with the flow," he said of ending up in Manhattan. "One door closes, another one opens."
When Ceballos started his collegiate career, getting to become K-State's starting catcher, as well as leading the team in RBI (21) and slugging percentage (.536) going into this weekend's home series against No. 10 Texas Tech, was more like a trap door. He never saw it coming.
An All-American high school product out of Chino Hills, California, Ceballos signed to play at Cal State Fullerton — a power in the West Coast Conference that has not missed an NCAA postseason appearance in his lifetime.
The talented catcher did not get the experience he expected as a freshman, however. He saw zero game time. The decision to redshirt him came late. His love for the game soon turned sour. He told friends and family how he dreaded walking onto the field.
"I was probably like two weeks from hanging the cleats up and never stepping on the field again," Ceballos said. "I was hating it."
Fortunately, an opportunity at Orange Coast College opened up. Ceballos described it as "the best thing that ever happened to me," for multiple reasons.
First, he began to love baseball again. Even more, he hit .319 as a sophomore with an on-base percentage of .429. Lastly, he made an impression that would, unexpectedly, pay off down the road.
At the time, however, Ceballos was committed to play at Point Loma, a Division II school in San Diego. About a week before he was set to move there, he got an email from the school's head coach. He figured it was report day details. Instead, it was blindsiding news that the head coach was leaving for another job.
Ceballos had no idea who the school might bring in, so he started searching for other options. He reached out to his Orange Coast College coach, John Altobelli, who reached out to K-State's first-year pitching coordinator Buck Taylor, previously Palomar Community College's head coach.
Taylor remembered coaching against Ceballos. He also knew K-State needed depth at catcher.
"Literally within three days I was out here on a visit," Ceballos said. "I loved it. Everything they showed me — the facilities, the academic side — I was in love. I knew this is where I needed to be.
"Within a span of like a week and a half, I went from, 'Let's go to San Diego,' and then it was, like, 'I guess I'm not going to San Diego. I'm going out to Manhattan, Kansas.' It's been really odd, but it's been a really fun adventure."
Ceballos' adventure instilled humility. While he has four home runs already at K-State, the team's third-best batting average (.321) and went 6-for-11 in his first Big 12 series against Oklahoma State last weekend, Ceballos said he knows from experience that nothing is guaranteed.
"I think my past has definitely shaped me into how I go about my business now. Going in as a freshman at Cal State Fullerton, you think you're a hot shot, nothing can beat you, and you can get punched in the face really quick," he said. "I got knocked down, but I've definitely gotten back up and realized that you have to grind through things, you have to put in the extra effort, and that's what's going to get you to the places you want to go."
His journey also brought perspective. Every once in a while, when Ceballos walks out onto the field for practice, he'll just stop, soak it all in and forget everything else. It's hard for him to remember the days he hated playing.
"I'm so blessed to be able to put this jersey on, put the cleats on and do something that a lot of people say they can't do. I think, for me, that's what keeps me going, knowing that coming to the field every day is a blessing," he said. "It's amazing that I can put on the purple and go out and have fun and not have a care in the world.
"I think everything really does happen for a reason. I haven't really gotten down about what's happened. I've really tried to see the positives in everything. I think that's what helped me with my success here, not worrying about the bad things that happen and knowing something good's going to come from everything."
Players Mentioned
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