Jenny Robledo came to the United States to chase her dream of playing college softball. That meant being more than a thousand miles away from her family in Mexico City for the last 2 1/2 years and having to battle a language barrier as she tried to garner the attention of recruiters while playing for Denton Guyer.
As her high school career comes to an end this week at the UIL state tournament in Austin, Robledo has not only earned a softball scholarship to Division I Incarnate Word, but she has a chance to help Guyer win its first state title. It was made possible by the hospitality of her teammates and their families, who provided everything from car rides around town or to the airport as well as a place to stay.
Robledo has spent her senior year living with Guyer superstar second baseman Kaylynn Jones and her family. Jones, an Oregon signee, is one of the top recruits in the nation and has been the perfect teammate to help Robledo adjust to a foreign country after the well-traveled Jones lived in Italy and Japan before moving to California and then Denton.
“They are an amazing family,” Robledo said. “The first couple of years were really hard. I’m really close to my family. Not seeing them every day after I came back from practice or school was hard. They always take care of me and make sure that I’m OK. It’s fun to live with them.”
Robledo, a pitcher and designated player, is 5-2 with a 2.21 ERA and .302 batting average and 23 RBIs as Guyer (37-4) prepares to face Weslaco (35-6) in a Class 6A state semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday at the University of Texas’ Red & Charline McCombs Field. Robledo previously lived with the families of Guyer teammates Megan DeWitt and Gracie Willis, and when she needed a place to stay this year, Jones and her family offered to be the host.
“It’s been great,” Jones said. “I have a younger brother, and I always wanted a sister. Having Jenny in the house really felt like having a sister. I’m not a big person to open up to just anybody, but I felt like it was really easy to open up to Jenny.”
Robledo was born and raised in Mexico and has played for Mexico’s junior national team, even helping that squad to a bronze medal at this year’s Under-18 Pan Am Games while playing alongside her younger sister Johana. Robledo was one of the country’s rising stars, but she knew that the best way to get on the radar of college recruiters was to leave her family and move to America by herself.
She got that opportunity when she was invited to come to the United States to play select softball and ended up with the D-FW based American Freedom organization. After looking at several high schools, she fell in love with Guyer and enrolled there as a sophomore.
“I moved here because my dream was to play softball in college and I wanted to adapt to the language and culture earlier and not in college,” Robledo said. “When I got committed, it felt amazing. My dream came true. Not a lot of people can do that in Mexico.”
Robledo had learned some English in Mexico, but she still had a long way to go to become fluent like she is now. She said it took her about a year to feel comfortable speaking the language.
Her family tries to visit every couple of months, and when they’re not around, times are made easier by Jones, who knows what it’s like to be on your own. During part of the time that her parents lived in Japan, Jones moved to California so she could play softball, and then when her parents moved to Denton, Jones stayed in California for about the first five months of her junior year to train.
“I try to remind her every day that we’re her family too,” Jones said. “It’s different last names, but we’ll always be there for her and help her in any way.”
Robledo was ruled ineligible for varsity competition her first year at Guyer, so she played on the JV. That was a blessing in disguise, Guyer coach Keith Medford said.
“It took some pressure off of her and allowed her to see how it’s a higher level when you get to Metroplex 6A ball,” Medford said. “When you get to the playoffs, there is nothing that matches that atmosphere. There is nothing that matches the crowd, the intensity and the pressure.”
The last two years, Robledo has been a part of state tournament teams. She was 13-1 as a junior while sharing the pitching duties with ace Finley Montgomery on a state runner-up team.
She has also embraced life in America, becoming a fan of two-time Olympic silver medalist pitcher Monica Abbott, learning to love dancing and card games and wanting to pursue a degree in kinesiology. She has also learned valuable life lessons.
“Every other kid could go home and talk to their mom or dad about the struggles or the good things, but she didn’t really have that, except by telephone,” Medford said. “The kid is resilient because of it. She is going to be able to tackle anything in life. This has been a life-changing event for her.”
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