Vista baseball team ready for league season

Vista del Lago's varsity baseball team has only played three games leading up to their Capital Valley Conference opener March 3 at Rio Americano, but things are looking good so far. A year ago, the Eagles had a good year, winning 18 of 30 games before bowing out of the playoffs in the second round, losing a tough, 4-3, game to Yuba City. This year with 19 of their 24 players being seniors, the onus is certainly to win now. Through three games, the Eagles have outscored opponents 25-1 in winning all three games, the most recent win coming Thursday in an 11-1 final over River Valley in five innings. Though the wins mean nothing, early signs show the Eagles will have strong pitching. Bazor said he's got four guys who can start in seniors Carson Kosina, Chris Scoggins, Jacoby Jones and Jack Ellis and three or four others who will pitch out of the bullpen. "I really think our strength is pitching," Bazor said. "Cosina, Scoggins, Jones and Ellis are potential starters and we've got a lot of middle inning guys. We're sitting on about seven or eight pitchers. "Offensively, through three games, we're striking out a lot less than last year, which is good. We're putting more balls in play." The team's top hitters through three games are Asher Taylor, Russell Snyder, Colton More, Nat Ha and DJ Kubik, who each have three hits, while Cole Kachur has two hits in two at bats. A season ago, the Eagles placed third in the Capital Valley Conference behind Woodcreek and Christian Brothers. They'd like to move up that ladder this season. "I think we can compete in league," Bazor said. "We have the velo this year. We didn't have it last year and got overpowered a bit and had to fight in a lot of 2-1 ballgames. I think our pitching can keep at least some of those teams in check and keep us in a lot of games." Bazor and the Eagles are looking forward to the start of league play when the team visits Rio Americano on Tuesday. "It's a fun team," Bazor said. "We've had these long breaks between games so getting the rotation right has been tough. We've been training and playing each other so much that we're ready for the season and hungry to play other teams. We're ready to get going."