The El Modena (Orange, CA) High School baseball club is getting a makeover courtesy of star alumnus Freddie Freeman.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star first baseman donated $500,000 to the team to put toward a new clubhouse. The $1.1 million project, scheduled for completion in the summer of 2023, will include 1,440 square feet of space that includes a locker room, team meeting area, trainer’s office and new batting cages, according to ABC7.
Freeman played two seasons of varsity baseball for El Modena, according to MaxPreps. He shined as a senior both at the plate and on the mound, hitting .417 with five home runs and 10 stolen bases while posting a 6-1 record with a 1.27 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 44 innings. A pitcher/third baseman, Freeman was announced as 2007 Orange County Register Player of the Year. This summer, he was a second-round pick by the Atlanta Braves.
He is among a handful of El Modena alumni who have gone on to play sports professionally. Others include Olympic runner Michael Terry, who competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and football player Jeff Speck, who played in the USFL for two seasons and the NFL for one.
El Modena’s baseball team is on the rise. After three consecutive years of sub-.500 baseball, the Vanguards went 22-10 last season and reached the Final Four.
They will work to build on that success this spring and then get the Freeman-funded facility ready for next year.