Findlay Kia supports Las Vegas student-athlete

Long before the Golden Knights, Raiders and Aces, Las Vegas was and remains a baseball town; and 14-year-old Luke Herrera is a Las Vegas boy.

Luke has dedicated himself to America’s pastime, and his hard work has paid off. Over the course of the past three years and multiple seasons, Luke has missed less than a handful of practices.

His commitment to the game, his teams and himself is matched only by his dedication to his education. As a student-athlete, Luke has worked hard to maintain a 3.5 GPA as well as meeting all other academic responsibilities. On the field, Luke has juggled the complexities of his academic responsibilities while managing his baseball performance through extra training on offense and defense, and all other club baseball activities.

In October 2019, Luke set a goal of making the USA Baseball National Team Identification Series Southwest Region team that competes at the NTIS Champions Cup in Cary, North Carolina. The Southwest Region team is composed of only 32 selected players from New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Southern California and Hawaii.

While the COVID-19 pandemic placed a hold on Luke’s goal of making the 2020 NTIS 13U Southwest Region Team, Luke made good use of the extra time and put in extra work to hone his skills, and he has been selected to the 2021 NTIS 14U Southwest Region team.

Findlay Kia General Manager Byron Klemaske got to know Luke and his father, Gilberto, when Luke played on Byron’s son’s team.

“(Luke) was a year or more younger than the rest of the team but if you didn’t know you would have never guessed by his maturity as a man and a player,” Klemaske said.

Ultimately, in recognition of Luke’s efforts on and off the field, Findlay Kia is now sponsoring his participation in the NTIS Champions Cup.

“I love the fact that Luke’s father always refers to him as a student first and player second,” Klemaske said.

Luke has stated that he understands that interdependence is a huge part of success.

“I’m very thankful and appreciative of the generous financial support that Findlay Kia and Byron Klemaske has provided to make this trip to Cary, North Carolina, possible,” Luke said. “I will never forget the great generosity. Thank you very much to Findlay Kia, Byron Klemaske, and to all that have lent their support.”

In addition to his own work, Luke helps coach the younger athletes of the Nevada Crew Baseball Club. His coaches have commented that Luke displays great patience and compassion when working with younger athletes.