As Winter sports end and Spring sports begin, the Roseville varsity baseball team is gearing up for a fresh new season. Roseville returns a majority of its team from last year, however with the league championship success of the 2015 season and the rebuilding year of the 2016 season, it is anyone’s guess as to how this team will perform in 2017.  

From last year’s 7-19 team, it was clear that improvement is needed for the juniors and seniors, and is a top priority for this season. Going from first to last in from 2015-2016 in the CVC in total record can only be blamed on a loss of talent to a certain extent and at some point falls on performances of players in games. A need for the Tigers this year will be closing games with the “w”, and not letting victory slip out of their grasp on simple errors. Of the Tiger’s 19 losses last year, nine of those losses were decided by two runs or less, meaning a few good plays here and there could have made the difference between a middle-tier seat in the CVC standings and a hunt for a position in playoffs.

Using last year’s misfortunes as fuel, the Tigers are training for success this year. The majority of players are constantly playing baseball on travel teams and keeping their skills honed, as well as going through a 4th period varsity baseball athletic P.E., which doubles as an early practice, where players condition, go over strategy and drill on fielding and hitting. The main focus of these practices are to focus on the faults and weaknesses of last year, which mainly lies in technicalities and situational protocol.

“So far, we have been working on situational hitting, what to do in certain scenarios when you are up at bat, things like that. We didn’t hit many runs when we were up to bat last year, and that was a problem with us,” senior shortstop Colton Borowiak said.  “Also, we have been working on staying focused all throughout practice. Our coach [Lance Fischer] is trying to keep us to sustain our focus the entire practice, to finish practice how we would finish a game.”

Finishing games will definitely be needed for the Tigers to have a chance at competing at playoffs this year. Of the top four teams in the CVC last year, only Oakmont doesn’t return a majority of its experienced juniors as seniors and even then, still have young talent that could be dangerous, especially in a rivalry game. The rest, Del Campo, Bella Vista and Whitney, all return most of their talent and production and are scheduled to play Roseville multiple times each.

Roseville, however, is not without its share of talent returning. Seniors Cam Anderson, Jay Razzano and Nick Tucker, all top batters last year, offer invaluable experience at the plate, and junior Lucas Gather, who recently committed to play baseball for Cal Berkeley, is returning to the mound to bring starting experience at pitcher. The Tigers are also receiving a few star players from last year’s JV team in Joe Cirrincione, Nate Lemos, Chase Nelson and a few others; while two star players from last years freshman team have been deemed skilled enough to contribute to the varsity team this year and will skip JV, those players being Jordyn Berry and Rylan Woods.

Talent and productivity is already showing, as Roseville went 2-0 its first week, winning its first two games against Del Oro and Casa Roble, 5-4 and 7-2 respectively, hitting the ball very well, with 15 hits total between the two games. If the Tigers can continue this success in the remaining non conference games this week against River Valley, Woodcreek, Nevada Union and Vista Del Lago, Roseville could be in great shape entering league play to be a front-runner and on the road to playoffs.

“We have made it a goal this season as a team, we want to win a championship,” junior pitcher Lucas Gather said. “Just like a few years ago, I think we can do it.”