The boys baseball team hopes for the best for the upcoming season.
Along with girls soccer, track and field, boys tennis, and boys golf, the Barstow baseball team has started its practices. Even though the team has not lost any members, this season has brought changes to the structure and practices of the team.
For one, the team has a new coach, Nathan Moore. Replacing last year’s coach Todd Rein, Moore also acted as the assistant coach, meaning that his type of gameplay is not unknown to the players. Additionally, many of the boys on the team work for Moore at Blue Valley Recreation Center, demonstrating a close relationship between the coach and the team.
“I’m really excited to work with Coach Moore. He was our assistant coach last year, so he’s not really new, but it is still good to be working with him again” says Junior Pierce Farinelli ‘24.
Junior Michael Yagan ‘24 continued, saying that, “The fact that Coach Moore is not new will help us, because we won’t have to learn a new system. I think we can hit the ground running this season and that will help us to win.”
Additionally, the team has three new freshmen, David Prier, Sam Galloday, and Cayden Crosby ‘26. Farinelli says that “fostering a good environment is really important this year. I, along with all of the other upperclassmen, want to make sure that the younger kids feel supported on the team.”
Farinelli continues, saying that, “We are no longer underclassmen, so we can’t use that excuse. We all really want this season to go well, especially for all of our seniors.”
The final change comes from the field itself, as the baseball field has been updated over the course of the last few months. On top of new dugout and pitching tunnels, the team has been completely turfed, allowing the team to play in inclement weather. To add a final touch, renovations also included the new Barstow insignia (colloquially called “The B”) behind the batter’s box.
To prepare for upcoming games (the first of which is March 25th, at home), the team holds practice on weekdays from 3:45 to 6:00. The players do a variety of drills to help them hone their hitting, pitching, fielding, and catching skills.
Junior Michael Yagan ‘24, starting pitcher, says that “I work on mostly my pitching during practice. Everyone usually separates out into groups during the first part of practice to work on their specific position. At the end though, we all come together to do conditioning and team-based drills.”
The team wants to do a lot in their upcoming season, hoping to have success in Districts and State divisions. Additionally, the team will be losing three seniors, Solomon Holmes, Lukas Brodrick, and JP Moore ‘23. With all of these parts aligned, the team thinks that they will be extremely successful in the upcoming season.
The team has already started their season, winning quite a few of their openers. Be sure to come out to support the boys!
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