Gavilan baseball, coming off a difficult 13-0 loss to Ohlone
Tuesday, is a team searching for its identity
GILROY
Suffering through a 13-0 loss in the Coast Conference opener might tend to suggest the worst for the Gavilan College baseball team.
After all, it was only two years ago when the program experienced rock bottom, going 3-36 overall and 0-25 through the Coast Conference’s Coast Pacific division. Rams manager Neal Andrade credited several close losses early in the season leading to a snowball effect and waning confidence as the year progressed.
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In that light, Tuesday’s 13-0 loss to defending state champion Ohlone College was as about as rough of a start as a team searching for its identity can experience. But, perhaps, it will provide a swift kick in the pants for the Rams.
“Today maybe hopefully happened for a reason,” said Andrade, whose team went 4-6 through the non-conference portion of its schedule, picking up wins over College of the Siskiyous, San Francisco City College and a pair of victories against West Hills College — strong teams, although not at the caliber of Ohlone, which improved to 6-6 overall with the win.
“I think it was an eye-opener for a young team that obviously has a lot to learn as far as college baseball,” Andrade added. “We haven’t played an opponent like Ohlone.”
Chances are, the Rams will play another team similar to Ohlone’s caliber as it continues through its Coast Conference slate. Last season, the conference was arguably the best in Northern California, with teams such as Canada College, San Mateo, Ohlone and Chabot garnering the top four postseason seeds.
The state championship game, even, pitted a pair of NorCal foes — Ohlone and San Mateo — against one another.
This season, Andrade is expecting a conference not unlike last year. Although that level of play could hinder a weaker team’s confidence early on, competing against high-level programs on a near game-by-game basis only forces those to get better.
Tuesday’s game against Ohlone, Andrade hopes, was the first step toward an eventual uptick in performance for Gavilan.
“We want to play in those big games,” Andrade said at the conclusion of last year’s 9-27 season, which saw the Rams go 7-18 in the Coast Pacific division. “If you want to be the best, you’ve got to play the best.”
What the Rams are struggling with right now, though, is their identity — finding out what works, what doesn’t, and who are the right pieces to making it all happen.
The team lost roughly nine sophomores from last year’s squad, but have 10 on this year’s team, many of whom make up Gavilan’s starting rotation and bullpen, which right now is considered the strength of the program.
Part of the reason, one player surmised, is the involvement of any everyday pitching coach in Kyle Bennett — a position Andrade was forced to take over a year ago.
“I had like five hats on,” said Andrade, who has been coaching the Gavilan baseball program since 2003. “But coach Bennett is doing good.”
Through its non-conference schedule and on Tuesday, Gavilan has been anchored by southpaw Drew Davidson (Long Beach Poly), a sophomore who is playing in his first year for the Rams. He boasted a 1-1 record and a 3.38 earned run average prior to Tuesday’s game, in which he allowed four earned runs in 4.2 innings pitched.
“I’m more confident with our pitchers because they throw strikes and they give us a chance to make plays … it’s more in our defense’s hands,” sophomore outfielder Ramiro Chapa said. “As opposed to relying on our pitchers to throw strikes, we rely on making plays. So far, we haven’t been doing as best we can, but it’s still early in the season.”
A two-error opening frame by the Rams set the tone Tuesday for Ohlone, which eventually jumped out to an 8-0 lead through four complete innings before blowing the game wide open with a five-run seventh.
Gavilan was unable to help its own cause, committing six errors in the game and connecting on just five hits — zero in the clutch-hit department. The Rams had runners on base in six of the nine innings Tuesday, with runners in scoring position in four of those six innings.
“Even with that rough start that we had, with some unearned runs early and the balloon kind of deflating … we still had some opportunities early with a couple of runners on base,” said Andrade, who in the sixth inning Tuesday substituted roughly his entire starting nine.
“What we’re struggling with right now is finding what our identity is, what kind of team are we,” Andrade added. “Eleven or 12 games in, you think you might have it by then. But with a young group of guys that are still learning to compete and play college baseball, that’s what we’re still trying to search for and find.”
Although the amount of sophomores listed in the pitching department is somewhat high — 5 of 8, to be exact — those numbers are lacking among the position players. Gavilan did return its top two hitters from a year ago in Ramiro Chapa (San Benito) and Roberto Celistino (Gilroy), each of whom earned All-Coast Conference honors last season, while Tyler Provost (San Benito) is back as well, owning up to his utility role with the Rams. He played at third base on Tuesday, played behind the plate all of last season, and this season already boasts a 1-2 record with a 3.47 ERA atop the mound.
But still, Gavilan’s roster remains rather freshmen-heavy, although some are starting to find their first-year footing at the plate. Brothers Julio and Jorden Cortez out of Los Banos are currently leading the Rams at the dish, hitting .435 and .345, respectively, while another freshman, catcher Andrew Galindo (Wooster, Nev.), leads the team with 10 RBI.
“It’s hard to be consistent when you’re playing teams as good as Ohlone, but we’re still working on it,” Chapa said. “We actually have a lot of young guys this year.”
And the Rams have 22 games remaining in their season to figure it all out — finding out what works and what doesn’t. The Rams will play again on Tuesday against Canada College in Redwood City — the top-seeded team from last year’s postseason.
First pitch is 2 p.m.
“It’s not a good way to start conference, but at the same time, it’s a good learning point,” Andrade said of Tuesday’s game. “That’s the brand of baseball that you need to be accustomed to, day in and day out, every single conference game.
“If you’re up to the challenge, awesome. And I think our guys are, but that’s something we need to find and identify.”
——
OHLONE — 302 120 500 — 13 14 0
GAVILAN — 000 000 000 — 0 5 6
WP: M. Fontaine
LP: D. Davidson
