Baseball: Who's going to step up for No. 10 Alhambra?
There's no need to panic.
Yet.
Three games into the season and the Alhambra High School baseball team is looking from the bottom up with a sub .500 record as they await Almont League action to begin Friday at home against a sizzling Bell Gardens team.
The Moors (2-3) opened at No. 2 in the preseason top 10 rankings but after an inconsistent week they've dropped to No. 10, possibly the biggest drop ever.
The problem stems from a lack of hits and the same can be said even when Alhambra does win.
In a 7-4 win over Mountain View, the Moors mustered only four hits. In the season-opener, Alhambra managed only three hits and allowed 12 in a 6-1 loss to South Pasadena.
It's hard to pinpoint what's attributing to the dry spell, but a combination of mental mistakes, a young makeup of the team and an early slump have been contributing factors.
"I thought we'd start a little slow but not this slow offensively," Alhambra coach Steve Gewecke said. "Nobody wants to be 2-3 especially when they thought they had a better club than that. "The deal is you can't be bummed on the field. You have to keep working on it.
"In baseball you'll slump all year but we're working to get better, and we have to get it done starting Friday."
Alhambra figured it would be a little tougher this season when All-CIF selectees Noe Ramirez and Josh Devore graduated last season in which they finished 23-5, had a 17 game winning-streak and won its fourth straight Almont League title, all school records.
Gewecke said he felt this year's team was the deepest in terms of overall talent with "some pretty good players on the bench."
Though seniors Aeric Allen, Chris Rosario and Cody Heaton are holding steady as starters, some shakeup in the starting lineup might be the answer the Moors are looking for.
Sophomore Ryan Piñon was brought up from the JV team and already he's batting .444 in three starts and Junior Greg Saldate has been a solid pitcher. He's 2-0 and has a 1.91 ERA.
Alhambra will play its alumni game Saturday at Moor Field. Everybody on the team will play and it'll be their chance to make a strong case they belong in the starting lineup given the lack of hit production thus far.
Fortunately, nobody's soaking in the sudden inconsistency and Gewecke sees that as a positive sign.
"Absolutely," he said. "I don't think you can be successful in anything if you're mopey and all that."
Regardless, Gewecke said the Moors will find their momentum.
"I'm confident we'll turn it around, I really am," he said. "As long as they keep their head up and working at it they'll break out."
We'll have to wait and see ...
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Melendez worked as a correspondent for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for three years and later landed a job as a freelance writer at the Los Angeles Times before accepting an offer at The Orange County Register covering high schools. Melendez covered Major League Soccer at The Register for three years before being promoted to report on the Lakers, Angels and Dodgers for the Web. Melendez also worked for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fresno Bee, Oakland Tribune and The Boston Globe. E-mail opinions, suggestions and tips to miguel.melendez@sgvn.com. |
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