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Returning, new players power varsity baseball
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Photo by Paige Lampson
Cole Rasmussen is one of nine seniors on the Warriors. Rasmussen closed Monday’s game against Millennium Charter School.
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With over half of its team consisting of seniors and 14 of its players coming either from last year’s varsity or JV teams, the varsity Galt Warriors baseball program is a blend of old and new.
“We have a lot of experience, most of them have played together since they were 10 years old,” said Galt head coach Joe Garcia Monday.
The Warriors have 10 returning players from last season, and five new players.
Galt has nine seniors on its roster, and six juniors, making up a team that is largely a combination of last year’s varsity and JV teams.
Several players who made the move up from JV to varsity this season are pitcher J.J. Martinez, catcher Joe Setum, outfielder Matt Gayton, and infielder Tyler Parker.
Martinez was one of the top pitchers for the JV Warriors in 2007, and could be a valuable contribution for the varsity squad.
Setum was a solid force as catcher last season on JV, and will be able to progress as one of two catchers (including Matt Barsetti) on the Warriors.
Garcia said that Setum will be a key contribution to the Warriors, and could be a strong competitor to other catchers in the Sierra Valley Conference.
A key returning player for the Warriors is senior pitcher/ shortstop Brent Harrison.
“He’ll be one of the most-watched, as he’s one of the top pitchers in the league,” Garcia said of Harrison, who led the team in strikeouts, batting average, slugging, and on-base percentage last season.
“We have two outfielders who could possibly be some of the top SVC outfielders, who are good base runners, as well as defensive players. They are definitely impact players for the team, both offensively and defensively,” Garcia said.
“We have a very good core group this year,” said Garcia.
Garcia, who took over the head coach position from John Rodriguez this season, will be aided by assistant coaches Sam Harrison, Tony Hummel, and Tony Setum. Between them, the four have experience coaching a variety of levels of baseball players, including youth players, American Legion, and prep level players.
The Warriors earned their first win Monday with a 15-0 victory over Millenium Charter School.
Harrison had five RBI and had an inside-the-park home run and a double, as well as hitting several singles.
Harrison also started the game for the Warriors, pitching several solid innings before being relieved by Hank Seifert.
The win gave the Warriors a 1-2 record in the preseason.
Millenium Charter School had just 10 players available for Monday’s game, leaving not many choices for pinch hitters for the Falcons.
Galt used three pitchers in all, with senior pitcher Cole Rasmussen closing out the game for the Warriors.
“We’re learning how to access slower pitches,” Garcia said Monday after the game. “Galt has been facing a lot of pitchers that throw 80 miles an hour. With similar pitching, we had difficulty hitting the ball. They actually learned how to react better to different pitchers,” Garcia said about Monday’s game.
Last Wednesday, Tokay edged Galt in the eighth 4 - 3.
Strong pitching from Brent Harrison and Nikko Garcia kept the game close.
Harrison pitched three shutout innings until trouble happened in the fourth, in which three runs were scored.
Brent walked two batters followed by a double and two singles, allowing three runs to be scored.
Garcia came in relief to end the fourth inning Tokay threat. Nikko pitched 3-1/3 shutout innings keeping Tokay batters off balance. JJ Martinez came in to close in the eighth. Tokay managed two singles to score in the final run to end the game.
Hank Siefert scored Galt’s first run on multiple errors by Tokay’s defense.
Galt’s second run was scored by a single by Mario Portillo, knocking in Harrison.
Setum scored the third run, taking Galt into extra inning.
“Overall, our team played exceptionally well. Fortunately, we did not take advantage of our opportunity to score when we had runners in scoring position,” said Garcia.
“I know it’s still early in the season but we are making improvements,” Garcia said.
Galt High out-hit and pitched against Ripon, losing 8-3.
Galt started out early attack in the first inning leading 2-0 in the first.
Cole Rasmussen singled to knock in Joey Ruiz who was previously walked.
Matt Barsetti knocked in Cole for the second run.
J.J. Martinez single to bring in the third score, but that was all that Galt could muster. Ripon pitcher managed to end the threat. I had to give the Ripon pitchers a lot of credit. They kept our batters off balance and we were not able to capitalize the opportunity we had.
“Offensively we struggle and Ripon came out hitting. It’s still early in the season. I felt my team came in a little over confident and underestimated their opponents. I’m sure they learn a hard lesson from this game,” Garcia said.
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