With varsity baseball now in midseason, the Trojans have totalled a record of 6 wins and 5 losses overall, but 5 wins and 0 losses in their Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) games as of Mar. 26, varsity head coach Zach Canez said. The team is positioned first in the El Camino League division and is focused on winning their league and moving up to the higher De Anza League division next year, Canez added.
This is the first group of players that has been with Canez consecutive years, Canez said. Canez was the assistant coach for six years before making the transition to head coach last year, he added.
“We’ve just never been able to get to that point (winning division), but with a lot of returners and the team working together, I think this, out of all the years, is our best shot to do that and move our program up to the next division,” Canez said.
The two biggest strengths of the team are their pitching ability and how tight-knit the players are, senior and center fielder Benson Foy said.
“We’re a pretty close couple of guys,” Foy said. “We pick each other up if someone makes a bad play or error (…) We all step up and help them out, and then get everybody right back on track.”
The Trojans opened their season with the Michael De Jesus Baseball Classic tournament, in which they faced many higher league teams and learned many valuable lessons, senior and second baseman Harry Westfall said.
“We’ve been trying out different people at different positions and there’s some new people in new places,” Westfall said. “It’s been a learning curve because we have a good amount of underclassmen (…) It’s really just adjusting to new players at different positions.”
Over the games, some players that have stepped up have been pitchers Hugo Garay, Sanjith Pragasam, and Adrian Chavez, Foy said.
“They all stepped up as pitchers, but it’s still not like there’s just one person that stands out,” Foy said. “We’re just a whole core that has helped each other out.”
One of the most unusual but memorable moments so far in the season is when Westfall collided with a teammate, resulting in Westfall breaking his nose, Canez said.
“It (injury) shows that we need to communicate more,” Westfall said. “It was just an unfortunate event that could have been avoided, but we should be okay and able to play through it.”
The team maintains their chemistry by keeping high energy throughout their games, regardless of whether or not they are on the field, Westfall said.
“If someone earns a run, we start chanting, and if someone gets a hit, we try to keep a lot of energy in the dugouts,” Westfall said. “Even if you are on the bench and even if you’re on the field, everyone has to take a captain role and talk as much as they can.”
Although his last year of playing baseball at MHS is bittersweet, Foy is confident it will be his best season yet, he said.
“It’s nice because I know we are really strong,” Foy said. “I feel really confident about this team and it would be really nice to go out on top, and that’s what I think we’re going to do.”
Baseball team holds high hopes, aims to join next highest league
