Baseball Looks to Continue Dominance In League

SIMEON LAM
Staff Writer

With April around the corner, the Moors varsity baseball squad begins their quest for their record-breaking 10th Almont League Championship in a row; but their goals do not end there. Going deep into the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoff brackets would also be a major accomplishment for the team.

“[The team] would love to win league this year and show how awesome [our] baseball program is at Alhambra,” sophomore shortstop and second baseman Gabriel Figueroa said. “Our expectation is to get better both individually and [together] to improve our weaknesses.”

Head Coach Steve Gewecke has led the Moors to these record seasons, including their CIF championship game appearance in 2012. Even with this continued success, 10 championships is irrelevant to Gewecke. He believes that he should never look back, but instead focus on the future, especially since many of the league championships involved were very close and down to the last games of the season.

Gewecke and the team have used the offseason to improve their fundamentals and to gain more experience. According to Gewecke, the team is very young with seven starters graduating last year, leaving many openings in the varsity squad.
“The offense has been better than I expected, especially the power aspect of hitting,” Gewecke said. “The pitching depth has [also] been a nice surprise, [especially] with only one returning pitcher.”

The Moors’ daily practice routine consists of stretching, catching and individual defense based on positions. They then move onto team drills, which include offensive strategies, situationals, defensive positioning and controlled scrimmaging. Practice typically ends with hitting drills and conditioning.

Even though the team is young, the team has proven that they are capable of competing in the preseason. The Moors own a non-conference record of 5-1, winning five in a row before losing to Monrovia 0-2 on March 13.

“We are an all-around team, meaning that we can play well in every aspect of the game,” Figueroa said.

Leading the Moors varsity squad are returners Marco Briones, Nick Giambalvo and Adrian Ceron. Each of those players look to bring their game to the next level. The team now has five seniors and a transferred left fielder from rival school Mark Keppel.

“This team reminds me of 2010 because they weren’t supposed to win league and had only one pitcher, like this squad,” Gewecke said. “But the pitching and hitting has both improved significantly and has made us contenders in the Almont League again.”