O’Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete Of The Week: Robert Figueira, West O’Fallon Jaguars baseball

As the senior member of the West O’Fallon Jaguars Varsity American Legion baseball team, Robert Figueira knows his teammates rely on him to step up in big situations.

Most players might feel some extra pressure to perform in that circumstance, but Figueira, an O’Fallon native, 2010  graduate and this week’s O’Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete of the Week, lives for it.

“I love it,” Figueira said. “They know what I can do, and they expect me to do it. And I trust myself. I trust my skills, if you will. And I love to be the guy to help our team win.”

That’s not just talk. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound star centerfielder has lived it at every level he’s ever played at.

Which includes a standout performance this past Sunday at in O’Fallon, when Figueira sparked the Jaguars to a berth in the District 9 North championship finals with a clutch RBI hit and run scored, in what proved to be a 7-0 win over rival Wentzville.

“I feel like I’ve been there before,” Figueira said. “This is my fourth year on this team, and fifth of high school baseball, so I’ve been in those situations. I know what to do. I know how to approach it.”

But the remarkable part is how often Figueira succeeds.

He did it a lot during his high school days, when he was a two-time All-GAC performer for Fort Zumwalt West.

And he’s continued to do so for West O’Fallon this summer, where he leads or ranks second on the team in most hitting categories, which includes 44 RBIs that were far and away the most of any player in the entire District 9 League.

“I go up there with an approach every time I go to the plate,” Figueira said. “I know what to do with the ball every time I go to the plate. Like if you look at the sacrifice flies, I’m up there in that too. So I know how to get the job done if I have to.”

During the college season this past spring, Figueira had a solid year as the primary rightfielder for Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis. He hit around .270, and was one of the best defensive players on the team.

But the educational experience wasn’t what Figueira was looking for, so he’s decided to transfer to Labette Community College in Parsons, KS, where he will be a sophomore next season, and hopes to turn a terrific 2012 season for Labette into a scholarship offer from a top Division I or Division II school for 2013.

“That’s been my goal since I started high school ball,” Figueira said. “So whatever can get me there, I’ll do it.”

Figueira’s ultimate dream is to maybe someday get taken in the Major League Baseball Draft, and have the chance to possibly play baseball professionally.

Several friends, coaches and former teammates of Figueira’s have been drafted before, and he’s hoping that one day it’ll be his turn to get a call from an MLB team.

“I’m gonna be realistic about it,” Figueira said. “If I have a good degree, and a couple of job offers, and I got picked in a lower round, it would be great to say I got drafted. But I don’t know if I would take it. But if the (right) opportunity presented itself, it would be hard to turn it down.”

For now though, Figueira is content being one of the best players in one of the St. Louis area’s best summer baseball leagues.

And is always ready to prove that he’ll be the man to step up whenever his teammates need him.