The De Anza College baseball team concluded their season with a record of 12-24-1.

Head Coach Erick Raich said the tough schedule and recurring injuries heavily impacted the results of the baseball team.

“On paper, this was the most talented team that we’ve had come through in a long time,” said Raich. “We played probably the toughest schedule and got decimated by injuries.”

Reich added that although the team suffered many injuries, they were able come together and compete while adapting to the circumstances presented.

“We had some guys who had to move positions and play rolls that they weren’t planning on doing but we made it work and we were still competitive down the stretch,” said Raich.

Satisfied that his sophomores stepped up from the previous year, Raich said the next team needs to pay more attention to detail if they want to compete.

“I enjoyed watching some guys from the year before really develop into some pretty good players,” he said. “Next season we need to get back to doing the little things well again.”

Recent recipient of De Anza’s scholar athlete award, James Halpin, 20, communications major, said he was proud of the group and how they fought hard until the end.

“As a team we battled a lot of adversity and had to overcome many obstacles,” said Halpin . “We put a lot of trust in that we were going to be playing for each other.”

Halpin saw positives even when the team was on a losing streak and out of playoff contention.

“Once [playoffs] were out of reach, we had to figure out what we were still playing for and at that point for us it was our pride,” said Halpin.

Due to injuries and frustrating loses, Tiaga Sato, 20, mathematics major, said this season was a bit of a bitter experience for the team.

“Injuries and losing caused a decline in the morals of the team,” said Sato. “After a while, we were really craving a win.”

Since injuries were common this season, Sato highlighted the importance of injury prevention for the team to function next season.