Finishing 19-6, the baseball team exceeded Barstow’s expectations.
Last year, the baseball team, consisting of mostly underclassmen, had an average season. Their wins equaled their losses, but their spirit and their drive to continue to work completely transformed the team.
This year, all of those sophomores became juniors, thus settling into their roles as upperclassmen and as leaders of the team. The seniors, Lukas Brodrick, JP Moore, and Solomon Holmes also stepped up, guiding the team to success.
The team’s stellar performance can be attributed at least partly to this change in maturity. According to starting pitcher Michael Yagan ‘24, “the reason our team has grown so much is really due to just us becoming upperclassmen. We have all begun to fill our roles to the best of our ability.”
Another cause, according to team members, is a change in mentality partly due to the new coaching staff this year. Head Coach Nathan Moore and Assistant Coach Elliott Turner are responsible for what sophomore Carson Matula ‘25 explained as “coherent coaching and support, vital to the organization of the team.”
The team went on an incredible journey this season. Going 4-0 for the first part of the season built upon the team’s confidence. The boys beat teams like Heritage Christian and more impressively, Summit Christian. Athletic Director Scott Mendenhall explained that in his “10 years of being at Barstow, we have never beat Summit at baseball.”
Another great moment was Solomon Holmes’s Cycle, meaning he hit a single, double, triple, and a home run all during one game. The game, against KC Christian, was Barstow’s 13th win at a score of 10-1.
Those high-scoring stat lines were prevalent throughout the season, with scores like 13-4 vs St. Michaels, 10-0 against Maranatha, and 16-1 against Veritas Christian.
Some of the best moments of the season, though, came off the field, be it at practice or team get-togethers. Yagan explained one of those moments, saying that “the freshmen, especially Cayden, are really funny. There was a great moment where he gave Carson Matula his chain, and Carson sold it off to his friend. That caused a lot of laughs.”
The team really is tight-knit, exemplified not only by their playing style, but also their relationships at school. The team is almost 75% juniors, a set of boys who have played baseball and grown up together for their whole lives.
The rest of the team, though, is also well incorporated with the seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen coming together to form real friendships.
This camaraderie will be vital for the Knights as they go into their District and State campaigns in the coming few weeks. All of us at B-line wish the team the best of luck in the postseason!
Out with the Old: The New Royals Stadium
Baseball Team Has Record-breaking Season
New Coach, New Attitude: Barstow Baseball’s Preseason
Barstow Baseball Beats KC Lutheran at Home
