Cambridge’s Kevin Luciano makes family and community proud
By Sergio Leon/ El Mundo Boston
The Puerto Rican National team arrived in Perú last week with one mission: to bring back the Gold medal in the XVIII Pan American games – a major sporting event held in the Americas featuring summer sports competition held among athletes from nations around the Americas every four years in the year before the Summer Olympics. They have been held since 1951.
In the baseball competition, Team Puerto Rico snapped Canada’s two-time consecutive Gold run with a 6-1 victory last Sunday, giving the Caribbean nation its first Pan Am Gold medal in béisbol.
During this impressive streak, a local kid who grew up in Cambridge and now lives in Everett made a mark.
His name is Kevin Luciano, the first baseman for the Puerto Rican National baseball who could very well be the next up and coming baseball star coming out of Massachusetts.
Luciano was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his parents Luis and Jeannie Luciano (yes, the Luciano’s from Colombia Street and Jefferson Park) and attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School.
Later, he went on to play baseball at Keystone College, graduating in the spring of 2015.
In his final year at Keystone he started all 46 games in which he played and led Keystone regulars with a .400 batting average while tying for the team-lead with a .588 slugging percentage.
He also posted a .466 on-base percentage, recorded a team-high 68 hits including 13 doubles, two triples, and five home runs to rank second on the squad in long balls. Kevin led the Giants with 47 RBIs and scored 36 runs while drawing 16 walks while being hit by six pitches.
Not too shabby.
After college he went on to sign with Double A team Los Toritos de Cayay in Puerto Rico and is still currently playing with them.
“For me, it’s an honor for him to represent Puerto Rico as a kid who was born and raised in Cambridge. It’s a blessing to win the gold after many times of falling short in many other tournaments, and for him to win the Gold in his first Pan American Games is truly a blessing”, says Kevin’s father Luis to El Mundo Boston.
“Being born and raised in Cambridge it is an honor to represent my people back home. It feels amazing winning the Gold. I believe this is the first time Puerto Rico has won the games, so being part of history is truly a blessing,” explains Kevin.
Both father and son share in the dream of one day being part of the Red Sox.
“I would love to play for the Red Sox, but it would be an honor to play for any major league baseball team. You never know what the future holds but whatever God wants I will follow and I will continue to play hard for Los Toritos”, adds the younger Luciano.
For the record, in the Gold Medal game against Canada, Kevin had three at bats with 2 runs and 1 hit, with 9 putouts, which was the most on his team for the Gold medal game.
Keep an eye out for Kevin Luciano. We will.
