Bryan senior catcher Brenda Sanchez has an advantage, but it doesn’t have anything to do with her prowess behind the plate or in the batter’s box.

Sanchez is bilingual and often communicates with Lady Vikings head coach Enrique Luna in Spanish during games. Having someone who understands Hispanic culture is huge for Sanchez, and Luna is “como un padre” — like a father — to her.

“It’s another way for us to communicate, and also, it’s another way we connect because for me, [Luna] is like a father and also a good friend,” Sanchez said in Spanish. “He has gotten to know me a lot in these four years.”

The Bryan softball team is mostly Latina, and Luna is proud of his shared heritage with much of his squad. He emphasizes grades, too, and puts a premium on setting a good example.

“If you look at even 10 years ago, we didn’t have the predominantly Hispanic output that we had out here as far as percentage-wise,” Luna said. “I think it’s great. I think it gives them an avenue to look forward to. I’ve always taken a lot of pride in my culture, and to have young ladies out here to represent that is great.”

Sanchez sometimes can connect with umpires in Spanish, too, and is proud of how the Hispanic community around her has grown and how far her family has come since putting down roots. Sanchez’s grandmother immigrated to the United States, and her mother was born here, while her father was born in Mexico. Sanchez’s father finished elementary school in Mexico, and her mother dropped out when she was a sophomore in high school after marrying her father. Sanchez will be the first member of her immediate family to graduate high school and go to college — on a softball scholarship to Angelina College, where she hopes to study dentistry.

“I used to be ashamed, honestly, because all of my friends grew up in big houses and stuff like that, but now that I think about it, I’m proud of where I come from,” she said. “It really taught me a lot. I’m able to understand both cultures, really.”

Sanchez also has an aunt who was a 2007 Bryan graduate and is working on a nursing degree and other family members who work in engineering.

She received an email from Bryan on Monday informing her that she will graduate with honors this spring. When she told her family, her grandmother responded “Díos te puso en el buen camino” — God put you on the good path — and Sanchez thinks softball has had a lot to do with that. On the field, she has a .369 career batting average, including .312 this season, and is ranked in the top 10 in school history in home runs (third, 14), doubles (fifth, 24), RBIs (sixth, 85), total bases (seventh, 190) and putouts (second, 493). She also umpires youth softball games and talks to other Hispanic girls who are excited to join the Bryan softball program and add to its community.

“I think we have a lot of kids in that situation in Bryan High School, and her being one to lead the way and that she has an opportunity to not only go to college but play a sport and have her school paid for, I think that’s great,” Luna said. “That’s what I wish a lot of kids would understand — there’s more to do than Bryan. There’s more out there. Obviously, we love our kids and our community, but we want them to branch out a little bit, and we want them to enjoy life and go out there and be productive citizens, not only of our community, but of our state and of our world.”

Sanchez finds herself bridging the cultural gap between more people than her friends. Her father, who is from San Luís Potosí, Mexico, came to the United States about 17 years ago and is not proficient in English, so Sanchez often is his translator. Sometimes, she’ll hear “Brenda, vamos a comer,” and if she responds saying she doesn’t want to go eat, he’ll respond, “Mija, tienes que ordenar.” She knows that if they choose Whataburger, he can communicate with staff members, while she’ll have to do the ordering at Wings 'N More.

“I like it when people don’t see my dad as less because we’re all people, you just know a different language,” she said. “I respect people who attempt to speak a different language and people who are patient with other people attempting to do it.”

Her time working at Wings 'N More further deepened Sanchez’s empathy for those who aren’t native English speakers.

“I always think about I’m talking to someone’s dad; I’m talking to someone’s brother,” she said. “Being Hispanic, we’re all a big family, really.”