They say “hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard enough,” and that is the exact approach that the varsity is bringing to both the plate and the field this season.

The team was looking to build on last year’s success where, according to Coach Graham Santiago, the team had the most wins in 18 years. Although the team did not get to playoffs, it left players filled with learning experiences, and high expectations for this season.  Senior Varsity Captain Edgar Lopez said, “We continue to work hard, because we weren’t satisfied, which made us hungry to compete.” This year, the team is hoping to exceed last year’s total and make the playoffs.

The team has a reason to be driven, they lost four games all by one run, with a fairly young talented team with four seniors one junior, and seven sophomores. Sophomore Ruben Gomez, a first year varsity competitor says, “Each year is different, you don’t always play the same, players come and go, but you learn how to adjust and just play together.”

Building on last year, the team went 6-3 non-league games. Santiago acknowledged that the offense was a work in progress, he felt the team’s strengths were going to be defense and pitching.

It wasn’t until the victory against Harbor, a consistent, competitive playoff team, which marked a major turning point. That win raised the level of trust the teammates and coaching staff had with each other.

At the beginning of April the team was 11-5 overall and 5-2 in league, good enough for 3^rd place. Thanks to an eight-game winning streak everyone was excited and pumped up. Senior four year varsity player Carlos Vera said, “It feels good because you know that you have a good chance to make it to playoffs and it gives us confidence to our team to keep doing well throughout the season.”

While the success on the field is nice, Santiago is focused on the big picture, life. “I try to instill in them responsibilities, I try to approach it like it’s a job, so if you’re late for your job, there’s going to be some type of consequences. These lessons haven’t been lost on senior Captain Brian Navarro. “He didn’t just teach me about baseball, he also taught me about life, like how to be responsible on and off the field and how to treat this like a job, if you don’t show up you don’t play.”

Because teaching his players useful values expands his and his player’s abilities in everyday life, Santiago motivates his players’ work ethics and their competitive level, “We might not have so much experience but it’s in our culture to outwork people because we will work harder than you at any time. You gotta prepare yourself to be successful.”