All good teams go through low points. With its unfortunate circumstances last year, mens baseball had reached one of them.
Fast forward to this season, however, and the tables seemed to have turned for a team that has very high hopes for the 2015 season.
Team dynamics and execution in practices have changed and are bringing new success for the mens baseball program.
“It’s been going really well this year,” senior Tyler Moczulewski said. “Everything is just a lot better than last year because we are learning so much and having fun during the process at practices and games. We just ran a lot last year.”
This season’s team sees five returning seniors and many new juniors and sophomores. New, positive team dynamics were spurred by practices during the summer and play in summer and fall leagues. This experience before the start of the season allowed the team to improve and grow closer as a unit.
“Coach Talley set up speed drills for us before the season to get some workouts in,” senior Eddie Delgado said. “Coaches Talley, Anderson and Richardson are more flexible with us this year, so the communication has just improved overall.”
Sophomore Riley Wingerson also describes how the preparation that the baseball players received before the season helped them come together.
“We know each other’s tendencies, so it’s easier to turn a double play and know that this guy is going to do his job, which makes everyone’s jobs easier,” Wingerson said.
So far, the team’s record of 7-11 this season is giving the baseball program high hopes for the games that remain. The teams that they are losing to have some of the best records in 3A, which gives the men valuable experience and preparation for the postseason. The team also saw successes against Sammamish on March 20 and 23.
“Both of the games we played against Sammamish were walk-offs,” sophomore Torey Anderson said. “We came back in the seventh inning and we ended up winning, which was pretty exciting.”