Ryan Hamilton’s Scots are not throwing away their shot as they hit their season off with a promising game in their bid for first place after falling short the year prior.
In a scrimmage against Sacred Heart Prep, the varsity boys baseball team showcased their dominance both on offense and defense, making key plays to earn crucial outs while scoring a plethora of runs in the process.
“You saw pretty good defense and a lot of hitting. We scored a lot of runs today, a lot of stolen bases. We’re still working on things, however, so I anticipate we’re only going to get better from there,” Hamilton, the second-year head coach of the varsity baseball team, said.
“We have to keep the momentum going here, everyone is super positive right now. We have to bring that every day and every practice, and it should translate in games,” said Tyler Pechetti, a junior first baseman and pitcher.
In Hamilton’s first season as coach, the Scots finished third out of the eight teams in the highest Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) division. This year, the Scots aim to replicate their success of three years ago, in which when they won the PAL Bay League. This season, they also aim to make a deep run in the Central Coast Section playoffs (CCS).
“Last year we started off well, then we kind of got into a rough patch in the middle. Then towards the end of the season, we really cleaned up our defense, cleaned up our pitching, and we started to take off again,” Hamilton said.
The Scots have been holding practices since the fall and preparing throughout the year to build up skill and strength to challenge for PAL and possibly CCS titles.
“I don’t think it’s really about how prepared we are anymore, it’s all about putting it all together once the season starts,” said Dominic Avila, a junior pitcher and first baseman.
One of the things noted by Pechetti was the improvement of the team chemistry; everyone treats each other with respect and the team feels like a true brotherhood. Along with the players’ connections, the coaching staff has advanced the team a lot.
Avila noted the improvement in baserunning and the performance of the hitters have improved with Hamilton’s guidance. The quality of pitching has also improved due to the input of pitching coach Kevin Hahn.
Hamilton expressed optimism at the team’s prospects this coming season.
“We’ve got a very talented team with a lot of depth. We’re not really weak at any position; we have our infield taken care of, outfield taken care of, and we’ve got backups ready to come in if needed,” Hamilton said. “I’m very confident in our abilities as a team this year.”
