After a great start, the Yuba College baseball team has entered hostile territory in its quest for a playoff birth. Beginning with a 16-4 record, the 49ers entered a rough stretch in their schedule, going 3-9 with two big loses, one against American River, 17-1, and the other against Sac City, 17-3.
“We had a very tough league this year,” said Head coach Tim Gloyd. “We had four teams in our league that had at least 22 wins (Sac City 22-7, American River 22-8, Consumes 24-8 and Sierra 23-8).” Even with their tough schedule and a less-than stellar year, coach Gloyd believes the 49ers have a great shot at a playoff birth.
“All we have to do is finish the rest of the season with an 8-3 record, and that’s very doable,” said a very confident coach Gloyd. The players train year-round for the baseball season, and they are not ready to have their season come to an end just yet.
Some of the standout players include centerfielder Tory Davis from Roseville who has a batting average of .383, 45 RBI’s, 13 homeruns and a .809 slugging percentage, and first base and pitcher Neal Logue from Yuba City with a .357 bating average and 21 RBI’s. Leftfielder James Penn from Oakland has a .398 bating average and 17 RBI’s. Third base Jesse Larkins hit 31 RBI’s and achieved a .369 bating average.
The players all have respect for their coach, so they give 100 percent every game.
“He’s a soft-spoken guy,” said Penn of coach Gloyd. “But he gets the job done.”
Coach Gloyd was very impressed with the way his team has come together and improved over the season. Although he felt all the players had improved since the start of the season, Gloyd was most impressed with outfielder Rudy Crisolo’s progress.
“I’ve been really surprised how fast he has come along since the beginning of the season. He really has stepped up his game,” said Gloyd.
To play any sport at this level, you have to be dedicated and play year-round. Most of the players agreed that J.J. Gibson was the most dedicated player, even though Davis argued that he is just as dedicated.”I’m here all the time working out or doing something!” Davis pointed out.
With a fairly easy stretch of the schedule upcoming, the 49ers should make the playoffs and put on a good showing.
Comment Policy: Comments are welcomed and encouraged. However, the editorial board reserves the right to edit or delete, without notice, any comments submitted to the blog. For more details, see our full Comment Policy.