Owls baseball finding their stride as conference play begins

After having lost two seasons due to COVID-19, the Citrus College baseball team finished their non-conference games with a 7-10 record. 

Head coach Steve Gomez said their preseason results did not match their expectations going into the season.

“You start a season you have to go out and think you’d win every game,” Gomez said. “New season you go at it.” 

After winning their first conference game on March 8, freshman outfielder Matthew Espinoza  said they are headed in the right direction. 

“Preseason I knew we had the pieces to be a really good scrappy team,” Espinoza said. “It was just a matter of playing together at the right time.” 

Gomez said he is pleasantly surprised with his offense so far and pointed out freshman outfielder Devon Diaz, specifically.

Diaz has played well in the leadoff spot. The freshman outfielder boasts the third highest on base percentage on the team at .453. 

Gomez said having a freshman in the leadoff spot shows the utmost confidence that a coach can have for a player.

“I go out there and play with confidence, knowing that my team trusts me is a great feeling to keep in the back of my head,” Diaz said. 

Putting runs on the board has not been an issue for the Owls, but keeping them off presented challenges during their non-conference games.

The Owls’ pitching held a 7.50 ERA at the end of preseason play. Gomez used these games to set up a rotation for the pitching, which at that point was described by Gomez as sporadic. 

Six games into conference play, the pitching has found its rhythm to a tune of a 3.33 ERA. 

The Owls have used a high-powered offense and revitalized work from the pitching staff to start conference play 4-2, including a decisive 23-1 victory against Antelope Valley College on March 10. 

“From the moment we got off the bus we knew the task at hand and were focused early on,” freshman outfielder Matthew Espizoza said. “We wanted to go in there and play our game of baseball and I think we did just that.”

The Owls will begin a three game series against West LA College on March 22.