Baseball team builds on young talent

Pitcher senior Keegan Kliman warms up in the bullpen during practice. The Eagles are currently 2-1.

As the new season begins, the baseball team looks toward the season ahead. After securing third place in the Santa Clara Baseball Tournament, the Eagles’ confidence has boosted.

However, losing to Wilcox High School 2-6 earlier in the tournament grounded the team to realize that the CCS title will not come easily.

“The preseason was pretty hard for us this year,” junior Mat Snider said. “We came into the off-season with high hopes so the coaching staff really wanted to work hard to make sure we are ready.”

According to players, this year’s preseason was more intense than those of past years. The team has set high standards for this season.

“I think our team will win CCS because of this year’s new off-season workout plan and our increased depth at each position,” senior AJ Strom said. “More importantly, after being defeated in the first CCS playoff game last year, all of us returning members have a strong desire to prove [to] everyone that we’re better than that.”

Despite the loss of starting center-fielder senior Scott Abramo, the team feels it has really worked on its playing skills and has focused on bringing unity to the team.

“The only player we lost that could have played was Scotty [Abramo],” varsity Head Coach Sandy Wihtol said. “It was a big surprise to the coaching staff as Scotty had played two seasons on varsity and we anticipated him having a good year. The upside to a certain extent is that we have a number of good players who can fill in this season.”

Looking towards a new beginning, the team is focusing on what it has and what can be achieved with the talent that it has this year.

“I believe that our team this year is better than it has been the past couple years,” senior Keegan Kliman said. “We have all of the skills and talent of a championship team; it is just up to us to put it all together.”

Looking into the season, the team has studied its competition and has calculated from which teams it should expect challenges. “Our competition this year will be good as usual,” Mat said. “Wilcox and Gatos will be good as always. But we definitely believe we are better than them.”

The team is going into this season confident, but after losing to Wilcox, it will have to push itself for the competition. Though the team has encountered obstacles such as losing players, it has not let that come into the way of wanting to be victorious.

“We are a young team with a young starting lineup,” Mat said. “But we will rely on good senior leadership, and we will be good.”

The coaches and the team have high hopes for the upcoming season, giving the team more motivation to meet its expectations.

“This season and the next few years in the future will be big years at LAHS and the baseball program,” Wihtol said. “We as coaches are very excited about the players we have now and coming up.”