The 2015 De Anza College baseball team will embark on a new conference season with not only new players, but with an entirely new coaching staff.
With the program coming close to being cut last year, head coach Erick Raich stepped up to the plate and has remodeled the field with the help of donors and the players themselves.
The new coach comes to De Anza from Palo Alto High School, where he had been the head varsity baseball coach
since 2009.
“We are making a lot of steps in the right direction,” Raich said. “I feel excited.”
Right-handed pitcher John Buchman, sophomore, said the team is significantly better
this year.
“We have a lot of
good incoming freshmen,” Buchman said.
Buchman is one of the eight returning sophomores on the team with high expectations for the playoffs.
Sophomore shortstop TJ Conroy agreed that this new team is ready to face the challenges coming this spring.
“We have a good shot at making playoffs,” Conroy said. “A lot of the freshmen we brought in are talented players.”
After a 3-31 season last year, players are determined to put the team back on the map as a powerhouse. Raich said he is taking it one day at a time, as it is his first year with the program.
Justin Edgar, first baseman and left-handed pitcher, said he sees the team as the underdogs of
the conference.
“I feel like no one is really expecting us to do anything this year,” Edgar said. “No one expects us to be better than last year, but I can tell that this team will be great, just wait for it.”
Edgar said there isn’t going to be a lot of pressure on the team this year coming off a
poor season.
Outfielder Chris O’Connor said he feels the team this year has more chemistry and an understanding of one another on the field. After losing a large number of players, the team is showing no signs
of discouragement.
“Our number one goal is to be conference champions,” Raich said. “Then see where it goes from there accomplishing our future goals. Everything is to be determined at this point.”
With eight returning sophomores and 18 freshmen, the possibilities are endless. The team will be more focused on team goals rather than individual goals.
Assistant coach Ryan Bernard said he is taking everything day by day, hoping for the best.
The second game of the season on the remodeled field at De Anza will take place Monday Feb. 2, against Santa Rosa College at 2 p.m.