Manny Rodriguez may not be a native Cincinnatian but he definitely is a Bearcat. He lists his hometown as Brooklyn, New York, but the sophomore infielder has a tight connection to the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo is where Rodriguez's whole family is from and where he lived for two and a half years before moving back to the states. Rodriguez stays connected as he visits family and friends there each year.
Rodriguez's journey to Ohio wasn’t a direct route from the Dominican Republic and New York - he made an impact in Maryland first. Rodriguez moved to Towson his freshman year of high school where he played short-stop and pitched for the Calvert Hall Cardinals. He was ranked the number one short-stop in the state of Maryland.
After graduating high school Rodriguez found his way to the University of Cincinnati. In his freshman season, Rodriguez appeared in all 56 games and recorded a .223 batting average with 41 hits, 19 runs scored, and eight RBIs.
Rodriguez has already been a big factor for the Bearcats in his sophomore season as Cincinnati is on an eight-game winning streak, which is the lengthiest in The American this season and is the longest for Cincinnati since May of 2008. In their last outing against Northwestern this past weekend, Rodriguez produced a career-high four hits.