Panthers dominate preseason action
Joe Mendazona is one of five freshmen on the Panthers varsity roster. He was also one of the team’s leading hitters heading into last week’s conference opener. Photo by Lance Masterson
One goal for the Panthers varsity baseball team as it heads into Mid-Willamette Conference play is to maintain its focus.
“We have so many talented teams in this league. We have to take each two-game series one series at a time. Then see where we end up,” coach Ben Kramer said. “This team has high expectations. They expect to win a lot of ball games and be right there at the end. To have a chance at a conference championship.”
Not to mention a return trip to the state playoffs. Central lost in the opening round a year ago. It was the team’s first postseason trip in several years. That experience is expected to pay dividends this season.
Playoff experience “is huge. That group had played a ton of baseball together. A couple of years there we fell short of the playoffs. Just didn’t win a game or two where we let it slip out of our hands,” said Kramer. “But getting back to the playoffs and, honestly, realizing what that higher level of competition is like is great for them. Because now they know what it takes.”
Kramer added the Panthers look fundamentally sound as they prepare for the MWC opener against Lebanon.
“We have a lot of experienced pitchers. Guys that have pitched in some big time varsity games for us,” he said. “Offensively, we have shown we’re a pretty complete group. Nine guys that handle the bat well, hit situationally and drive the ball around the park.”
One thing for certain: The Panthers won’t be lacking arms.
“In our program we tell everybody that they’re a pitcher. Everybody gets a shot at it. Everybody works at it,” Kramer said. “We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where we don’t have anybody to go to. We’ve got, right now, probably 12 guys we feel comfortable can get up there and throw strikes. It’s just a matter of finding who is feeling good that day. Who is throwing strikes and competing.”
Senior Isaiah Sanchez added the team’s pitchers must not get complacent.
“I want to see consistency, from me and the other guys that pitch. Just throwing strikes. Putting the ball in play,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez likes what he sees when the Panthers are at bat.
“Our aggressiveness at the plate is really good,” he said.
And in the field.
“Our defense is also really good. We’re a well-rounded team,” he added.
Core of the team is Sanchez and the seven other seniors. But the roster also includes eight non-seniors, including five freshmen, competing for playing time. Kramer said he will start the team’s nine best players, regardless of grade.
“Our seniors have done an incredible job of embracing our young kids. Not just the freshmen, but the whole program. Bringing them along. Teaching them how we do things. But also recognizing that the younger players are pretty dang good ballplayers,” Kramer said. “So they’ve earned a lot of respect, those young guys, and shown they fit right in. That’s a huge testament to our seniors.”
Plus, it’s not as if the younger and older players entered the season as total strangers.
“We’ve known each other forever,” freshman JT Girod said. “It’s not like we’re a group of freshmen, a group of seniors, group of juniors, or whatever it is. We’re just a group of guys playing baseball.”
Girod, a pitcher/infielder, is up to the challenge of playing above his age.
“No, there was never any surprise,” he said when asked about making varsity. “I’ve been working for this, always.”
Girod and another freshman, Joe Mendazona, played for a 14-U national all-star team last summer. Mendazona entered last weekend's Nelson Spring Break Tournament as one of the Panther' hottest hitters.
“We played national schedules. We played against some of the best guys in the country. So we’ve played at a pretty high level,” Girod said of the pair. “We’re ready.”
The pair also joined forces with the team’s other freshmen - Santi Alarcon, Jackson Barba and Easton Herbert - to win a Junior Baseball of Oregon state title a few years ago.
Girod’s confidence extends to the team’s chances this season.
“It’s not looking like we’re going to get smacked at any point,” he said. “We’re looking to go pretty deep. I’m excited.”
Sixteen players comprise the Panthers’ roster. Seniors not mentioned include Andrew Taufa’asau, Andrew Eames, Derek Britton, Cody Vinson, Lane Peyton, Emilio Reyna and Isiah Ruiz.
Rounding out the roster are sophomores Owen Baker and Moses Garcia, and junior Josh Rech.
So far, so good for this mixture of old and young. Central won six of eight games during the preseason. Losses came against Beaverton, ranked seventh in Class 6A, at the tournament.
Their other wins came against Forest Grove, Hillsboro, Franklin and Newberg in the first of their two match-ups.
(Editor’s note: The Panthers started Mid-Willamette Conference play with a two-game sweep of Lebanon, having defeated the Warriors 3-2 on Friday and 7-2 on Monday. The local lads host South Albany on Friday are at Silverton Monday, and return home Wednesday, April 17, against Silverton. All three games start at 5 p.m.)
