UT Tyler senior Tanner Roach was presented the Isaac Tijerina Award on Saturday at Irwin Field.

Tanner Roach, who helped UT Tyler win the 2018 NCAA Division III national championship and has been a key player in the Patriots baseball program, has been honored with the prestigious Isaac Tijerina Award.

Roach, a 6-2 senior infielder from Whitehouse, was presented the award on Saturday by UT Tyler coach Brent Porche.

“Tanner has been such a blessing to our program,” Porche said. “In addition to helping us to our first National Championship his freshman year, he has been a constant in our program throughout these last three years as we’ve transitioned into Division II. I can’t think of anybody more deserving of this award. Tanner embodies all things Isaac was as a player and to the UT Tyler baseball program. He is a fighter, a good man, and a good teammate.”

Isaac Tijerina played for the Patriots from 2012 to 2013 and was a student assistant for the 2014 team. He had tremendous success on the field as he was honored as a member of the All-American Southwest Conference team in both 2012 and 2013. He was also recognized as an All-Region performer in 2013, helping to lead the Patriots to the ASC conference championship and the NCAA Regional semifinals. More importantly than his play on the field, Issac was the consummate teammate. He showed this not only during his time as a student athlete, with his hard work and dedication to the program, but in his heroic battle with cancer.

Isaac Luis Tijerina went home to be with his Lord on May 26, 2016 at the age of 24 after his courageous battle with cancer. His memory lives on through the Swing It Foundation and the UT Tyler Baseball Program with the annual Issac Tijerina Award.

The Patriot selected for the award exemplifies the following qualities: Respect of the game, play as hard as possible each day, toughness, hard work, competitiveness, selflessness, and putting team first.

The player that best models Issac’s approach to life and team, explained in this quote by Issac, “Player’s should not only have an approach to the game, but they should be prepared to have an approach to life, and baseball teaches us those lessons. Once you become a part of something bigger than yourself, you understand that you have become a part of tradition and you represent yourself your school and your family name, everywhere you go.

“Teammates are always going to be around when you are going through a tough fight, whether it be your actual teammates, or your family and friends who have become your teammates when you are trying to overcome adversity. Putting in the extra work when you don’t feel you can, makes all the difference in the world. It’s not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, that’s how winning is done.”

Previous winners of the award were — 2017: Trenton Buchhorn (senior infielder/Arlington); 2018: Ben Romines (senior outfielder/Tyler/Tyler Lee HS); 2019: Josh Burns (senior outfielder/Center); 2020: not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic; and 2021: Keith Long (senior pitcher/Murphy/Plano East HS).