Season Preview: Fresh-faced Vaqueros will rely on teamwork and chemistry

There's lots of new faces running around the Pershing Park baseball diamond.

Just three pitchers and four position players return from last year's SBCC team that went 20-22, finished second in the WSC North and extended its record playoff run to eight straight years.

"We have a lot of guys to replace and not a lot of experience," said eighth-year head coach Jeff Walker. "For the first time in a long time, I don't think we'll be one of the favorites in conference. In the last six years, we were picked to finish first or second.

"We have a good group of guys and we'll play hard."

The Vaqueros have placed first or second in the WSC North the last eight years, winning championships in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017.

The Vaqueros will start their season on the road for the first time in six years. Jack Aldrich, a freshman left-hander from Oaks Christian, will start in Friday's opener at West L.A. at 2 p.m.

Ian Churchill, a 6-2 sophomore left-hander from San Marcos High, is the only returning starter. He had an outstanding summer with the Alaska Miners and was named one of the top prospects in the Alaska League. He'll get the start in the home opener on Saturday vs. West L.A. at 1 p.m.

"Ian has committed to the University of Arizona and we'll rely a lot on him," Walker said. "I expect to see a lot of people coming out to watch his games. We won't have a deep staff but I think that's a good thing. We will be competitive."

The returners in the field are Philip Quartararo, who played outfield and first base last year, infielder Nicholas Prainito and outfielder Patrick Caulfield. Prainito, who figures to start at shortstop, was a first-team All-WSC North selection who batted .322 last year. Caulfield hit .303 and led the team with 14 steals in 16 attempts.

Walker said he's excited about his coaching staff.

"This is probably the best coaching staff I've had since I've been here," he stated. "Tim Haubersin was the pitching coach for the NBC champion Santa Barbara Foresters last summer and Casey Harms is an NCAA Div. 1 assistant who went to Omaha with UCSB. Casey brings winning and a much-needed toughness to our team."

The Vaqueros also feature a pair of former SBCC standouts as assistant coaches -- Chris Joyce and Spencer Erdman.

Santa Barbara is deep at catcher with  UCSB-commit Benjamin Martz  leading the way. He'll be backed up by Kyle Gonzalez (San Marcos High) and Alonzo Rubalcaba.

The Vaqueros are 26-11 at Pershing Park in the last two years, including 11-6 in 2018. They had to beat Ventura at home on the last day of the regular season to make the playoffs and the Vaqueros prevailed 7-5.

SBCC averaged 6.8 runs a game last year but they gave up 6.7. The Vaqueros are 35-7 over the last three seasons when they score seven or more runs.

"Teamwork and chemistry will be the keys to our success," stated Walker. "It won't be based on individual talent."

Boston Hubbard returns in the outfield, along with Elijah Hodges and Nicholas Trifiletti.

"Last year, we had a lot of good arms but we didn't throw as many strikes as we'd like," Walker recalled. "We did score a lot of runs and I expect to see that again. We'll be aggressive on the bases and we'll have to manufacture runs. We don't have guys who are going to bang the ball around the yard like (John) Jensen and (Jake) Holton did last year.

"We just want to touch home plate more times than our opponents."