With baseball season heating up, Mike Parisi, coach of the Pasadena High baseball team, thinks the Bulldogs will be a top contender this season for a Pacific League title.
“I think this could be one of the better teams I’ve had in the seven years I’ve been here,” Parisi said. “We have a lot of returning starters. We’re pretty strong on the mound. Let’s see how these kids perform.”
And since pitching wins ball games, Parisi said he thinks his team is well positioned with a one-two punch.
“Right now we’re going to rely on our two juniors, Niko Lopez and Frank Gariola,” he said. “They’ll probably be our two starters who start the season. The can change speeds, hit their locations, have command and then go out and compete and keep us in the ballgames.”
Parisi also said he feels his team will have no trouble hitting the ball hard.
“This is definitely our best offense I’ve ever had in seven years,” he said. “Sumner Smith is a returning first team all-(Pacific) League, all area play. He’s our junior center fielder. He’s our three hitter.
“Our four hitter is Alex Baer who’s a three-year starter. He’ll be our right fielder. We’re going to rely on him. Calvin Christenson is three-year starter. He’s my shortstop and our leadoff hitter. We’re going to be relying a lot on him.”
Behind the plate Parisi said he also feels the team is solid.
“My three-year starting catcher is Sergio Rey,” he said. “He’s going to be a big-time player. He’s everything to our team and our pitching staff. We’re going to rely a lot on him.”
And while he admitted the team’s weakness might be playing defense, Parisi said it’s all about doing the little things right to win tough ball games.
“The kids got to be consistent,” he said. “Baseball is all about executing and moving runners over and clutch two-out singles. Getting those final three outs. Last year, we were probably the best team for five innings. But you got to play for seven. We need to find that guy on the mound who wants to get those pressure three outs to win a close ball game. We have our share of close ball games in the Pacific League.”
(Shel Segal can be reached at ssegal@beaconmedianews.com. Follow him via Twitter @segallanded.)
Story by Shel Segal