Last season was the first for Sergio Espinal as the baseball head coach of West Orange-Stark. The Mustangs struggled the first half of district, but were in every game during the second half. Espinal is hopeful that improvement will carry over to this year.
Coach Espinal has several Mustangs returning that will play key roles this season. At third base will be Justin Veitch who will also see time on the mound and behind the plate. He led West Orange-Stark in hitting and was a good team leader.
The team’s Most Valuable Player according to Espinal was William Robles who returns as the primary catcher for the Mustangs. Robles is a coach’s dream always doing the things the coach asked him to perform from running bases, catching, or even playing in the infield.
Returning at shortstop is Jacob Dominguez. He struggled at the difficult position in the field last year, but Espinal thinks this season Dominguez is going to shine. Kaleb Istre will play second base again for the Mustangs. Defensively Istre is good. He needs to improve though with the bat this campaign.
Probably one of the Mustangs’ best hitters is Jalen Thompson who has some power with the bat. “I’m expecting big things from him, he also has to play a bigger role as far as pitching,” Espinal pointed out.
Espinal identified some other returning Mustangs that will see more playing time for West Orange-Stark. Jerren Terrell had a decent year for West Orange-Stark with the bat and in the field last year. Espinal needs Terrell to perform more as a pitcher with the arm he exhibited as the quarterback of the football team. Terrell struggled finding the strike zone last year, but has shined so far early this season throwing more strikes.
Maybe the best Mustang pitcher is Brennan Gamble who will be missing some time early in the season. Espinal believes Gamble could be a positive impact for the team when he returns.
Two players that saw limited time on the varsity last season are Nicholas Provost and Chavon Crawford. Espinal added, “Both are seniors and hopefully they can help us out this year.”
Hitting for the Mustangs could be a strength, and Coach Espinal analyzed who will swing big bats for them. The top of the batting order should be strong for West Orange-Stark with the first six batters all being quality hitters.
First baseman Myles Craven is swinging the bat really well. He will probably hit in the five hole for Espinal. The batting lineup could see Dominguez leading off, followed by Robles, Veitch hitting third, and Thompson batting cleanup. Craven and Terrell will round out a good looking top of the batting order for the Mustangs. “The top five or six in the lineup should do well, they should all hit at least above .300,” Espinal predicted.
Developing a pitching staff is the biggest job for Espinal, but he has some good arms with which to start. The Mustangs have the potential for being able to get opposing hitters out, but the coach emphasized they have to throw strikes.
West Orange-Stark has at least four good arms according to Espinal. Included in the rotation early in the season are Terrell, Thompson, Craven, and Istre. Espinal expounded on Istre throwing more innings, “Iste is actually looking pretty good. Kaleb has got some arm strength this year, he’s shown some bright spots in the scrimmages.”
The new season carries with it new expectations. Coach Espinal expressed his prediction for the Mustangs. He wants to begin the season with a positive start against non-district opponents Liberty and Shepherd by winning some games. This will build momentum for the Mustangs in preparation for the district.
West Orange Stark is in a very strong district. Espinal believes the Mustangs will be more of a factor in the district race this season. “Win some games get some confidence under our belt so when district starts, we can compete and hopefully, not hopefully, we will make the playoffs this year,” Espinal concluded.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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