SHALER TWP — Gianpaul Gonzalez was a stranger in a strange land.

He moved with his parents from Puerto Rico to Cranberry Township in August. It was quite a culture shock for the high school junior.

“The toughest part was the language first,” Gonzalez said. “We have English class in Puerto Rico — you have to speak two languages to graduate from school. It's getting better here in the north.”

But there was one comfort waiting for him in Pennsylvania — and it certainly wasn't the weather.

It was baseball. He immediately sought out Seneca Valley baseball coach Eric Semega and said he wanted to play.

“In the beginning I had baseball,” he said. “I enjoyed it.”

Gonzalez had trouble adjusting to the vastly different climate and being stagnant during the winter months.

In Puerto Rico, he played baseball all year. It immediately became evident that playing year-round in Pennsylvania was an impossibility.

Gonzalez was down and homesick. But his new Seneca Valley classmates and teammates on the baseball team picked him up.

“These guys are so nice. They had their arms open for me,” Gonzalez said. “They are my friends and like my family. They are all that I have here in Pennsylvania.”

Gonzalez has made a huge impact for the Raiders' baseball team, which began their quest for a third consecutive WPIAL Class AAAA title with a 2-0 win over Bethel Park Wednesday.

Gonzalez was a big part of the victory, driving in the only two runs with a sharp single and making two stellar defensive plays at second base.

Primarily a catcher in Puerto Rico, Gonzalez made the shift to second late in the season.

“When I first met the kid, I'm talking to him about strategy and he's like, 'Coach, it's baseball,'” Semega said. “Enough said.”

Gonzalez, who has played baseball every month of the year since he was 9, was profoundly depressed this winter.

But he was not alone.

“He was homesick,” Semega said. “The group of kids that we have took him under their wing, even though they knew there could be positions stolen from them, and they made him feel so comfortable. He was down, and they asked him to go out and do a lot of things with them to keep his mind occupied. He adapted very well because of the type of kids we have on this team.”

Gonzalez is always smiling and his teammates give him good-natured ribbing on a regular basis.

“He's a very loose individual,” Semega said. “The guys have fun with him.”

Between the lines, though, it's business as usual for Gonzalez.

The baseball field was the one place where he felt like he was at home and it was apparent to Gonzalez early how important defending the WPIAL crown was to his teammates and the Seneca Valley student body.

“It's so important to the school,” he said. “I could see it right away. You can see the energy we put into it.”

Gonzalez is no stranger to high-pressure games. He played for several teams in Puerto Rico and competed for several championships.

“There are a lot of championships,” he said. “They are all important, no matter what championship you are playing for. Winning is all that is on our mind here. Just winning.”

Semega is more than happy to have him for another title run.

“Again, it's baseball,” Semega said. “He doesn't think of it as something new or a different level. He just looks at it as baseball and trying to win.”