Dylan Rodriguez, an 18-year-old killed in a single-vehicle crash Feb. 13, was a rising baseball star, well-known and liked in the Delmar community.
“There will be stories circulating for the next several decades of some of the home runs he connected on,” said Dave Whigham, who coached Rodriguez on multiple teams. “The power he swung with was freakish, and the noise of the ball off his bat was just different.”
Rodriguez played on Little League, PONY League, travel, school and college showcase baseball teams, to name a few, according to family and friends.
“This kid lived baseball; it’s all he did. If there was a team, he was playing on it,” said family friend Erin Tucker.
He hoped to play for the major leagues. Julian Burdett of Delmar, also a baseball player, said Rodriguez was his best friend.
“I was asking him about his college plans or what he wanted to do for a job, and he said very fast and very confident(ly), ‘I’m going to the majors,’” Burdett said. “That is something he was very capable of doing.”
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Rodriguez attended Delmar High School until his junior year, after which he transferred to South Carolina’s P27 Academy, a student athletic development program. He had recently committed to Florence-Darlington Technical College, “a top end junior college for baseball,” according to Whigham.
“I can remember vivid times where I would be having a bad game and he would come up to me and knew exactly what to say, whether it was a joke to get me laughing or a simple tip to help fix what I was doing wrong,” Burdett said.
A Delmar Wildcats Football Facebook page post said the community was hurting due to Rodriguez’s sudden death.
“We will always remember Dylan for being a great teammate and having that infectious smile that made everyone’s day a little brighter,” the post said.
Rodriguez’s aunt, Dorene Robles, described her nephew as “a bright light.”
“He could light up any room with his smile,” she said. “He loved big and he loved life.”
Rodriguez died after he was ejected from his vehicle during a single-vehicle crash on Seaford Road, south of Seaford, on Feb. 13. Police are investigating.
A viewing and funeral are planned for next week.
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