Transitioning from a record of 3-15 in the 2016-17 school year to a far more successful season, JV baseball has demonstrated extreme growth within the past year. Throughout last year’s season, the team faced numerous challenges. However, as it has gained a number of freshmen and more experience, the team has bounced back to become an undefeated team.

“Injuries really hurt us last year. We had limited numbers, and then when you pile on injuries, it makes things a little difficult,” head coach Michael Nagamatsu said, “also a lot of the guys were playing different positions they never played before… and it’s a new group. They never played together before, so it took a while for them to kind of realize that they can become a team, and they can improve together.”

Hoping to have a better season this year, the team put in hours of work over the summer and throughout off-season. The coaches additionally worked on building more structured practices, focusing on repetition for the team to build consistency in its overall play.

“We focused over the summer on getting stronger and improving our skills,” sophomore and starting second baseman Jamison King said. “We also added new players over the summer with the freshman class, and it has helped us grow and round out any holes that we had in the defense and hitting in the lineup.”

The team has made outstanding plays this year including beating a varsity team 6-2 in a recent game. As the team has overcome many obstacles and improved its play, it has prepared itself for CIF and varsity next year.

“I think this team can go very far. I think seeing the competition around, we’ve been doing really well against the teams we’ve been playing,” sophomore and starting shortstop Patrick Connolly said. “I think if we can transition from this year to next year with the same intensity and the same work ethic, we’ll be very good.”