The Santa Maria Valley Packers baseball team’s summer season is in full swing.
The Packers are in their fourth year of existence and are competing for the first time outside of the California Collegiate League and on the Allan Hancock College campus. The move was made in an effort to help improve the Santa Maria baseball community and its local players.
“The (CCL) was comprised of predominately Division I and Division II college players from across the U.S.,” said Bryn Smith, who wears multiple hats—including founder, assistant head coach, and head pitching coach—for the Packers. “Now we’re using more players from local high schools and Allan Hancock College. We’re a young group of guys willing to get better, and that’s the goal for the season.”
Judging from the Packers’ first game of the season, in which they were held hitless in a 5-0 loss to the East L.A. Dodgers, they can only improve. And that’s just what they did, as they eventually earned their first win, defeating the Dodgers 1-0 in a doubleheader on May 29 in Santa Maria.
“It’s good experience for our guys; our batters and pitchers have had to make a lot of adjustments,” Smith said of playing more experienced competition. “We’re focusing on the community and the local baseball talent here. Our goal is to further our talent, but also give the local kids a goal in mind.”
The Packers return to the diamond on June 9, when they’ll take on the San Luis Obispo Blues in SLO.
This article appears in Jun 9-16, 2011.
