Not so long ago, Arrison Perez was a front desk attendant at what then was called Shula’s Athletic Club in Miami Lakes.
He’s now a starting pitcher in professional baseball.
The 24-year-old Perez made his first pro start on May 31 for the Washington Wild Things. He pitched five shutout innings, but his team wound up falling 6-4 to the Florence Y’alls.
Perez, a right-hander who pitched in college at Barry University, has a stellar 0.73 earned-run average in his first five appearances this season for the Wild Things. The first four of those appearances came in relief, before he was called upon to make the start against the Y’alls.
Perez signed with the Wild Things – a team based in Washington, Pennsylvania -- in March. They are part of the Frontier League, an unaffiliated professional league. Teams play a 96-game regular season schedule that goes into early September, followed by playoffs.
There are 16 teams in the league, with clubs based in Quebec, Ontario, New Jersey, New York, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois.
Perez played baseball at Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, then pitched for Barry.