Baseball season has begun and the players came out zealous with a strong showing, beating Ironwood Ridge 2-1. After making the playoffs last year, the team is aiming to get back. With early injuries to some of the players before the season, it started out looking a little bleak, especially after their recent loss to Cienega, but they don’t seem to feel that the injuries will slow them down.

Having good younger players perform well is the key to making playoffs with starters being injured. This includes Yaxel Ledezma, who got one hit in two at-bats in the first game with a double. Yaxel is “One hundred percent,” confident in the team’s ability to make playoffs saying that they could be, “Last 8 or top 4.” He also spoke on being a freshman starting on varsity saying it felt “Awesome,” and with what he showed in the first game, there’s no reason to bench him.

His teammate, Rogelio Gonzalez, backed him up on making the playoffs saying, “I feel like we can one hundred percent make playoffs, but we just have to focus on one game at a time,” He continued, “Personally, I think we can go very far into the playoff; as long as our pitchers attack the strike zone early and keep the walks down, then we can make it very far because we can hit at a high level.” Now last year Rogelio had an amazing season and was the best hitter on the team. When asked if he felt any pressure to do even better at the plate this season he said, “Honestly yes, because I had an amazing season at the plate last year, but I’m the only one that puts more pressure on myself because I want to do even better this season then last season.” When asked about his feelings about the recent injuries the team is dealing with he said, “Having injuries early in the season hurts us, especially in games like the one against Cienega losing 6-5. With a big guy lineup that can do a lot of damage at the plate, it could help us put guys in scoring position and bring them in. Everyone needs to stay healthy and do their stretches, mobility work, and arm care so when playoffs come we are all healthy.”

Senior Gamaliel (GV) Vasquez thinks that the team could go all the way. Last year GV suffered a hand injury that forced him to be out for almost the whole season. When asked about his attitude coming back from the injury said “I’m looking to play my best season yet, to come back hard.” He was also asked how he felt about the injuries the team has sustained, “It shouldn’t affect us as much, we should be able to stay consistent and competitive to whoever we face.”

It’s a slight uphill battle but as long as the team has good defense and at least decent hitting they should get to the playoffs and potentially get further.