Diamond Destiny Brings Gonzalez to Bradenton

Elevys Gonzalez feels as if he realized his purpose early in life.

When he was 10, the youngest of Evelys and Xiomara Gonzalez’s three children claimed he was destined to play baseball in the big leagues. Upon hearing the bold statement, it was Xiomara, a former softball player turned teacher, who made sure that Elevys took the proper approach toward chasing his dream.

“She would always come to my games,” Elevys said. “Whenever I did something wrong, it was always, ‘Why did you do this?’ and ‘Why did you do that?’ She would say that there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things.”

Elevys had followed his father and older brother onto the diamond by the time his fourth birthday rolled around, but Xiomara was always the guiding force in his baseball career — a force that helped make his dream of signing a professional contract with a major league organization a reality three years ago.

Currently, Elevys is an infielder in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor-league system and one of five Venezuelan-born players on the roster of the Bradenton Marauders of the Class-A Advanced Florida State League. Just about a week into the second half of the 2011 season, Gonzalez has already played in a career-best 75 games.

“It’s a new year, and I’ve been playing (almost) every day,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve just worked hard. Now, I have the opportunity to keep working to get to the next level.”

After signing with the Pirates as a non-drafted free agent in 2008, Gonzalez hit .311 with 23 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 44 games with the organization’s entry in the Venezuelan Summer League. He spent the first 35 games of the 2009 season with the Gulf Coast League Pirates before earning a promotion to State College (Pa.) of the New York-Penn League, where he hit .216 in 13 games.

Playing second base, shortstop and third base for the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League, Gonzalez batted .275 with nine doubles, four triples and six home runs in 67 games during the 2010 season. Impressive numbers, but Gonzalez’s inability to crack the Power’s everyday lineup most likely had him slated for another season with the lower of the Pirates’ two full-season Class-A teams.

In fact, Gonzalez’s biography was not included in the Marauders’ 2011 media guide.

“I was working (last year),” Gonzalez said. “When the opportunities to play three or four games a week came, I just tried to do the little things, play hard and do whatever I could do to help the team and myself. Making adjustments and working hard is what it is all about.”

The switch-hitting Gonzalez, who is listed as standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 175 pounds, has been the Marauders’ primary third baseman this season. He is batting .285 with 21 doubles (tied for fifth in the league), 45 RBIs and 30 runs scored.

Gonzalez failed to get a hit in six straight games, but he snapped that skid by going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs in the Marauders’ 5-2 win at Palm Beach on Tuesday night.

“When I was 10, I told my family that God made me come to the world for one thing only, and that was to play in the big leagues,” Gonzalez said. “I remember that every day that I come to the park.”