Coming from a challenging season last year, with an overall record of 12-13 and overall league record of 6-6, this year’s Boys Varsity Baseball Team prepares for the new season in their new Eastern League, where they will be playing teams such as Coronado High, Serra High, Point Loma High, Mira Mesa High, Patrick Henry High, and San Diego High, according to Varsity Head Baseball Coach Richard Frink.
Remaining in Division 2 but entering a new league, Captain Jacob Freedman said, “Our pitching is going to be better this year because that’s our main focus. Last year, we walked too many batters and that’s where we struggled.” Frink elaborated, “We don’t have a lot of power, and [another weakness would be] our youth and inexperience on the pitcher’s mound.” The pitcher is unquestionably one of the more important players on the field, controlling the game pace and maintaining the goal of keeping the opposition from scoring, so developing strong pitching is certainly one of the team’s priorities.
Losing twelve seniors from last season caused another problem, but that was nothing our UC Team couldn’t handle. It was crucial to promote some deserving JV players and shine the spotlight on some new, worthy contributors in an attempt to improve deficiencies and fill in gaps all around that were left behind by the team’s old seniors.
“We lost some pretty good seniors last year, one being a very good pitcher who went on to St. Mary’s [University] but that also allowed a couple of the young kids who were sophomores last year to get lots of playing time,” said Frink. Frink also elucidated on a couple of new faces, from JV, that came up either during last year’s season or during this year’s winter ball, such as Sophomore Alec Saucedo and Junior Eric Waldichuk. Some players, who have been starting more often this season, include Junior Isaac Wolfkind and Junior Zac White.
“Our biggest strengths would be our timely hitting. We do a good job playing the small ball part of it. They can definitely bunt, they can run, and they can get on base,” said Frink. Getting on base is a crucial part of the game. Without a well-rounded offense, a team would not be able to win.
Another thing many teams struggle to have, that our Cents are undoubtedly able to achieve, is team cohesiveness. Freedman said, “The team environment is great; everyone likes each other, we have fun and we all want to win.” Winter ball and everyday practice from the end of November were both contributors into establishing an ideal team bond. “We have everything to be good, it’s just a matter of if we put it together to win games,” added Freedman.
“Our first tournament we play Saints, who are one of the best teams in the county, so we always look forward to seeing how we match up against them. We play a couple of other good schools in the Lions Tournament from out of state. We also do a city conference tournament where we play against the East County and the South Bay.” According to Right Fielder and First Baseman Alec Saucedo, the team has a total of three coaches and practices usually focus on what was needed during the previous game.
Just like every other high school Baseball Team, their goal is to eventually make it to CIFS and win the title. With a previous record of 12-13, our Cents look to have a challenging, but successful path in front of them. “We just gotta work hard, and strengthen our skills everyday at practice,” said Saucedo.