Allan Hancock College baseball’s recent winning streak might be over, but the team could be on its way to building another one, thanks to some strong defense, fast bats, and a talented bullpen.
After enjoying a seven-game winning streak at home, the Bulldogs hit the road on Feb. 20 with plans to continue upping their record. Things were looking good the first day of the three-game series in Southern California: Hancock upset the preseason No. 1-ranked Cypress College 4-3 in 11 innings for its first win over that team in seven tries since 2010, according to Hancock’s athletic department.
However, the team ran into trouble the next day against the Fullerton College Hornets, who, with a six-run sixth inning, beat Hancock 14-11. Not ones to roll over and play dead, the ’Dogs rallied once again against Cypress on Feb. 22, beating the Chargers 10-2. Coincidentally, the victory bumped Hancock’s overall record up to 10-2 as well.
Bats connected in the eighth inning of the Feb. 22 game, bringing in six of the team’s 10 runs.
According to the athletic department, current Southern California Pitcher of the Week Ryan Bower had a stellar game as well, scattering nine hits and four walks over seven solid innings. He also struck out five Chargers, improving to 4-0 on the season.
Relief hurler Matt Shackley pitched the final two innings of the game without letting anyone on base, and he struck out two batters.
That kind of diversity in the bullpen is what assistant coach and pitching coach Clarence Griego said sets his team apart.
“We have a slew of [pitching-style] varieties that bring different angles and abilities,” Griego said.
The trick to having success on the mound, he recently told the Sun, is having “starters that go deep into the game—five, six, seven innings.
“You don’t want to go deep into the pen early into the weekend. You want to preserve [your talent],” he said. “Our pitchers have good tempo and they’re commanding the zone. They’re filling the strike zone up with fastballs and off-speed pitches.”
Griego said he likes being able to change things up, sometimes literally, by bringing pitchers into the game as they’re needed.
“You read what’s best for the game at the moment,” he said. “In a way, it’s kind of like playing chess. You’re playing match-up and seeing what you need.”
Of course, behind every great pitcher is a team of great fielders, and then there’s the second piece to the pitching puzzle: the catcher.
“Our defense has been great, too. They’ve really been supporting the pitchers,” Griego said. “The definition of a good teammate isn’t all the ‘rah, rah!’ as I like to call it. It’s the shortstop who lays down a good play after the pitcher walks a guy. It’s the guy who gets the last out of the last inning.”
Then there’s the time-tested idiom, “Practice makes perfect.”
And that’s exactly what the Bulldogs were doing over President’s Day weekend—a time when most college students were enjoying an extended trip back home or a lazy day on the couch—in preparation for their three-game series in Orange County.
In between drills and pitching practice, hurlers Bower of Lompoc and Marc Baker of Pismo talked to the Sun about their main goal for the rest of the season: “To fill the zone with strikes.”
Other goals include maintaining their tempo, which Bower described as “the speed of the game; making sure it’s going pretty fast and not slowing down to the other team’s speed.
“You work at your pace, not the hitters’ pace,” the pitcher said. “Right as you get the ball back, you get right back on the rubber and get your next sign.”
Added Baker, “We’ve got solid defense and a solid offense this year. We’re hoping to go pretty far [in the season].”
Head coach Chris Stevens said how far his team goes depends on how the next couple of weeks go for the team.
“We’ll learn a lot about ourselves in the next three weeks,” Stevens said.
He said the ’Dogs were fortunate to have a string of back-to-back home games early in the season. Winning on the road, however, will prove more difficult—as seen in the series down in Orange County.
Away games can be more challenging, Stevens said, because of “unfamiliarity with the field.”
Teams get to know their home fields intimately during the season, learning “all of the nuances, like wind and all the little factors,” he said.
But he and assistant coach Griego are confident in their players’ abilities.
“Overall, it’s a pretty mature group. A lot of them have been playing with us for two or even three years,” Stevens said. “We’ve also got some potential professional baseball players playing for us.”
Next up, the Bulldogs were scheduled to face off against College of the Canyons at home on Feb. 25 and in Santa Clarita on Feb. 27. They’ll return to the Central Coast again for games against Cuesta College on March 4 and 6.
Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 6, 2014.