BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
When Ben Gonzales took over the Mission Veterans baseball program, he knew that the winning culture and tradition were already deeply intertwined into the roots of the program.
His goal was to “continue that tradition, but with my own stamp on it.”
“I was excited about the opportunity,” Gonzales said. “It was exciting to take over a program that was successful because of what they have done over the last couple years. … I do believe we have the athletes here to continue that tradition.”
The Patriots (6-11, 3-2 in District 31-5A) got off to a hot start, winning five of their first six games, but have struggled a bit since.
“We started off, right off the bat,” Gonzales said. “After that, we kind of stumbled a bit there. We were in all the ball games we lost. It’s like I told the guys, ‘You have to come to play seven innings. You can’t play six and overcome one bad inning.’ That has been our downfall so far in a lot of our losses.”
Still, the Patriots boast a solid defense, and junior ace Alex Guajardo is a threat every time he pitches.
“When Alex is on, he throws a pretty good game,” Gonzales said. “He’s young. He didn’t throw too many games last year. I couldn’t ask anything more from him.”
The key for the Patriots will be the bats. In their losses, they leave small villages on base, and they can’t get runners in from second and third with less than two outs. But in their wins, they get rolling and can’t be stopped. If they can hit like they have in their wins, they can compete in a District 31-5A that is all bunched up.
“(The district) is wide open,” Gonzales said. “If we show up to play like we are capable of, I think we can put our necks in there and make a run for it.”