Valencia High School head baseball coach Carlos Carrasco has stepped down from his position, he announced on Monday in a post on Twitter.
“Sad day for me today,” Carrasco wrote. “I have decided to step down as (Valencia baseball) head coach.”
“I really want to thank everyone that supported Jaguar baseball and most importantly want to thank all the players who allowed me to be a part of your lives.”
Carrasco has led the VHS program for more than a decade, taking over in 2008.
Under his leadership, the Jaguars won three district championships and finished as runner-ups twice more.
In 2019, the last full season he led the program, the Jaguars finished with a record of 12-15 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Artesia.
The 2020 iteration of VHS baseball was off to a 5-3 start before the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Carrasco made the decision in order to spend more time with his family, as his daughters are reaching the age where they have activities of their own, and he wants to make sure he’s able to attend.
“The main reason is to focus on my family,” Carrasco said. “My little girls are starting to get involved in activities and athletics and I was missing a lot of their stuff.
“My father was never around to see me play and I didn’t want to be that guy, so I had to make a very difficult decision to not continue coaching high school baseball.”
Carrasco also is the weight training teacher at VHS and says he plans to continue in that role. He is also working on his master’s degree and hopes to move into administration in the future.
His favorite memory in charge of the program came in the 2012 playoffs.
“I have a bunch of favorite memories, but beating St. Pius in the quarter-finals in 2012 was really awesome,” Carrasco said.
The Sartans were the three seed in 2012, and the Jaguars, as the No. 6 seed, upset them 5-2 in order to reach the semi-finals against Miyamura.
Carrasco’s announcement was met with an outpouring of well-wishes from former players, including younger brother Roberto, who is now the head coach at Lamar Community College.
“Thank you for being an example of what being a coach is about,” Roberto said in a tweet.
“Your guidance and leadership influenced many of us to be successful on the field, but more importantly to become successful human beings in the world. Love you coach.”
Carrasco also owns The Grind, an indoor training facility for baseball and softball in Los Lunas.
Wilson Holland, athletic director for Los Lunas Schools issued the following statement regarding Carrasco’s departure.
“Carlos Carrasco will be truly missed as the VHS head baseball coach. It was a privilege and an honor working with Coach Carrasco. Coach Carrasco was good for kids and good for VHS. We wish him the best of luck.”
A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Carlos Carrasco as a science teacher, not a weight training teacher and Roberto Carrasco as the head coach of Otero Community College, not Lamar. These errors have been corrected.
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April 18, 2024
