Boys on deck for playoffs
BASEBALL With a 5-3-1 record, the Brahmas are third in the Palomares League.
April 24, 2018
The Brahmas opened league play with a three-game winning streak, defeating Bonita, 4-1, Glendora, 5-3, and Ayala, 7-3. The streak, however, ended when the boys lost to South Hills, 1-0, but were able to rebound in strong fashion, defeating Claremont in a high scoring bout, 10-4. In the following games, the team played back-to-back matches to Bonita where they lost the first outing, 2-0, but won the second, 5-4. The team’s second attempt at a win streak was ended when Glendora blew out the Brahmas, 12-0, although they were able to tie Glendora 7-7 in their following game.
Head coach Jon Hurst attributes the team’s success to the fact that this year’s players have had more experience and have picked up momentum and confidence as a result of their victories.
Senior Richard Teran pitches in a 5-4 win against the Bonita Bearcats.
“The fact that [the players] are now really comfortable with what our coaching staff is trying to do, they’ve been able to have some success,” he said. “With that success has come a lot of confidence, and now because they’re confident, they’re able to repeat their performances.”
According to Hurst, the performances of sophomore shortstop Alonzo Fuller, senior second baseman Fabian Moran and senior catcher Christian Killian have contributed to the team’s success. All three players have batting averages above .300, with Fuller and Killian leading the team with .357.
Junior Sean Martin and seniors Richard Teran, Jairemy Pulido and Cruz Rivas round out the rotation as the team’s primary pitchers. According to Hurst, Teran typically starts one of the two league games each week, but that the rotation depends on the opposing team’s strengths and weaknesses. He acknowledged the high number of capable pitchers as a major factor to the team’s success.
The team has luckily not been plagued with any major injuries other than Rivas having an elbow injury back in November, which he was able to come back from in time for league play.
“It’s been difficult considering you can’t lift weights and stuff like that to a certain extent, but overall, you just learn to get over it through stretching and stuff like that,” Rivas said. “It’s difficult when you want to go out 100 percent but you really can’t.”
Hurst said that the team is also focused on executing well in all of the details of the game, as this is what will allow them to find success both in league and at CIF.
“We have very high expectations. We expect to go to CIF, and once we get there, then we’ll re establish some goals, but we want to make sure that we get there first,” he said. “Once we do get to CIF, it will be important that we…continue to do the little parts of the game right, because that’s what’s going to allow us to play as long as we can.”
